Acute diarrhea CT scan

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Sudarshana Datta, MD [2]

Overview

CT scan is not routinely performed for cases of acute diarrhea. However, it may help in the detection of certain rare causes of acute diarrhea such as inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal lymphoma, carcinoid syndrome, and other neuroendocrine tumors.

Computed tomography (CT scan)is performed in patients to detect less common causes of acute diarrhea such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), intestinal lymphoma, carcinoid syndrome, and other neuroendocrine tumors.
Findings on CT abdomen for IBD include:
- Skip lesions
- Bowel wall thickening
- Surrounding inflammation, abscess, and fistulae^[1]^[2]

↑ Zissin, Rivka (2005). “Computed Tomographic Findings of Abdominal Complications of Crohn’s Disease—Pictorial Essay” (PDF). Canadian Association of Radiologists Journal. 56 (1): 25–35. PMID 15835588. Retrieved 2006-07-02. Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (help)
↑ MacKalski, B. A. (2005). “New diagnostic imaging tools for inflammatory bowel disease”. Gut. 55 (5): 733–41. doi:10.1136/gut.2005.076612. PMID 16609136. Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)