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Cancer-Updates

Causes of Rectal Bleeding

19 de enero de 2024

3 min de lectura

Rectal bleeding occurs when blood passes through the anus or rectum. You can notice blood in your poop or the toilet paper or when you wipe after a bowel movement.

The condition can happen because of many reasons, including hemorrhoids, inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), anal fissures, or colorectal cancer.

Causes of rectal bleeding

While gastrointestinal bleeding can appear from anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract (GI), rectal bleeding or hematochezia originates from the lower part.

Here are some of the causes of rectal bleeding.

Hemorrhoids

Also known as piles, hemorrhoids are swollen masses of tissue made of anal blood vessels and muscle fibers. Common during pregnancy, childbirth, or constipation, hemorrhoids are the most common cause of rectal bleeding.

The condition can develop inside or exterior of the anus, appearing as small bumps that occasionally bleed after passing stool or wiping.

Anal fissure

Anal fissure occurs when the tissue lining the anus tear, causing rectal bleeding and pain. Commonly occurring because of constipation (posterior anal fissure) or childbirth (anterior anal fissure, anal fissures can be mistaken as hemorrhoids.

Anal fissures can cause painful defecation with blood-streaked stool and can heal on its own or require further treatment.

Fistula

Fistulas develop as an abnormal opening or pockets between two neighboring organs. When fistulas occur between the anus and skin or the anus and rectum, it can cause a discharge of blood and white fluid.

While fistulas can be treated with antibiotics, they may sometimes require surgery.

Diverticular disease

Diverticula are small pockets that develop on the wall of the colon at weak points in the colon’s muscular layers. While ordinarily, diverticula are common and do not cause symptoms, when infected or inflamed, the blood vessels in them become fragile and susceptible to rupture.

This can cause an incidence of rectal bleeding.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

Inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, occurs from chronic inflammation of the bowels. The disease can cause chronic abdominal pain and diarrhea and, in severe cases, can lead to rectal bleeding.

Sexually transmitted infections (STI)

Common sexually transmitted infections, including chlamydia, gonorrhea, or syphilis, can cause bleeding or inflammation in the rectal or anal lining. STIs like herpes can cause bleeding sores, while HPV or human papillomavirus causes anal warts that can cause pain.

Infectious colitis

Bacteria like E.coli and C. diff can cause infectious colitis, leading to bleeding from the colon or hemorrhagic colitis.

Infectious colitis can appear as bloody diarrhea that resolves by itself, although some need treatment in the form of antibiotics.

Peptic ulcer disease

Peptic ulcers occur when the gastric juices eat away the stomach lining, creating open sores or ulcers causing burning stomach pain and bleeding in the upper GI tract.

Blood from the upper GI tract takes longer to come out of the rectum, causing the bleeding to appear black, dark, or tarry.

Gastroenteritis

Gastroenteritis are inflammation of the stomach and colon that typically occurs because of bacterial infections. Gastrointestinal disease can cause diarrhea that may contain blood and mucus.

Treatment of gastroenteritis involves antibiotics or antivirals, rest, or fluid, depending on the cause of the disease.

Colon polyps

Colon polyps are noncancerous abnormal growths on the lining of the rectum or colon that can cause rectal bleeding when inflamed or irritated.

Colon or rectal cancer

Cancers of the colon and rectum are one of the serious causes of rectal bleeding in older people.

While colon cancer is relatively common, progresses slowly, and is treatable, rectal cancers are rarer forms of cancer that are curable when detected early.

Sometimes, benign polyps can turn cancerous and are more likely to cause rectal bleeding than others.

A colonoscopy is done to investigate unexplained rectal bleeding to rule out colon cancers.

Internal bleeding

Sometimes, rectal bleeding can be caused because of a significant injury to the gastrointestinal organs. Some gastrointestinal diseases may also lead to internal bleeding, resulting in blood in the stool.

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