Chronic diarrhea differential diagnosis

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Case #1

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Omodamola Aje B.Sc, M.D. [2]

Overview

The differential diagnosis for chronic diarrhea is enormous, with a large number of diagnostic tests available that can be used to evaluate these patients. Classifying the patient with chronic diarrhea into a subcategory helps to direct the diagnostic work-up.

Differential diagnosis

It is important to differentiate chronic diarrhea based on the kind of diarrhea that is produced. Chronic diarrhea can be subdivided into three major types; watery, fatty, inflammatory. Watery chronic diarrhea can then further be sub-divided into osmotic or secretory diarrhea. Below is a list of differential diagnosis of chronic diarrhea by stool characteristics.

Watery

• Secretory (often nocturnal; unrelated to food intake; fecal osmotic gap < 50 mOsm per kg*)
  • Alcoholism
  • Bacterial enterotoxins (e.g., cholera)
  • Bile acid malabsorption
  • Brainerd diarrhea (epidemic secretory diarrhea)
  • Congenital syndromes
  • Crohn disease (early ileocolitis)
  • Endocrine disorders e.g., hyperthyroidism
  • Medications (see causes section)
  • Microscopic colitis (lymphocytic and collagenous subtypes)
  • Neuroendocrine tumors (e.g., gastrinoma, vipoma, carcinoid tumors, mastocytosis)
  • Nonosmotic laxatives (e.g., senna, docusate sodium)
  • Postsurgical (e.g., cholecystectomy, gastrectomy, vagotomy, intestinal resection)
  • Vasculitis
• Osmotic (fecal osmotic gap > 125 mOsm per kg*)
  • Carbohydrate malabsorption syndromes (e.g., lactose, fructose)
  • Celiac disease
  • Osmotic laxatives and antacids (e.g., magnesium, phosphate, sulfate)
  • Sugar alcohols (e.g., mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol)
• Functional (distinguished from secretory types by hypermotility, smaller volumes, and improvement at night and with fasting)
  • Irritable bowel syndrome

Table showing watery causes of chronic diarrhea (Table 1)

Cause			Osmotic gap		History	Physical exam	Gold standard	Treatment
			< 50 mOsm per kg	> 125 mOsm per kg*
Watery	Secretory	Crohns	+	-	Abdominal pain followed by diarrhea	Abdominal tenderness when palpated in severe disease Blood seen on rectal exam Fever Tachycardia Hypotension	Colonoscopy with biopsy	Topical mucosamine and corticosteroids are prefferd Mesalamine and sulfasalazine are used for remission
		Hyperthyroidism	+	-	Excessive sweating Heat intolerance Increased bowel movements	Lump in the neck Proptosis Tremors Increased DTR	TSH with T3 and T4	Carbimazole and methimazole Beta blockers like propylthiouracil Iodine-131
		VIPoma	+	-	Watery diarrhea Dehydration (thirst, dry skin, dry mouth, tiredness, headaches, and dizziness) Lethargy, muscle weakness Nausea, vomiting Crampy abdominal pain Weight loss Flushing	Tachycardia Rash Facial flushing Abdominal distention Abdominal tenderness in the right upper abdominal quadrant	Elevated VIP levels Followed by imaging	Sandostatin or chemotherapy for malignant tumors Surgical removal of the tumor
	Osmotic	Lactose intolerance	-	+	Abdominal pain Bloating Diarrhea Flatulence	Abdominal tenderness	Intestinal biopsy	Avoidance of dietary lactose Substitution to maintain nutrient intake Regulation of calcium intake Use of enzyme lactase
		Celiac disease	-	+	May be asymptomatic Vague abdominal pain Diarrhea Weight loss Malabsorption / steatorrhea Bloatedness	Abdominal pain and cramping Abdominal distention Tetany Mouth ulcers Dermatitis herpetiformis Signs of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K deficiency	IgA tissue transglutaminase Ab	Gluten-free diet
	Functional	Irritable bowel syndrome	-	-	Abdominal pain or discomfort recurring at least 3 days per month in the past 3 months and associated with 2 or more of the following: Improves with defecation Onset associated with change in frequency of stool Onset associated with change in appearance of stool 25% of bowel movements are loose stools History of straining is also common	Abdominal tenderness Hard stool in the rectal vault	Clinical diagnosis ROME III criteria Pharmacologic studies based criteria	High dietary fiber Osmotic laxatives such as polyethylene glycol, sorbitol, and lactulose antispasmodic drugs (e.g. anticholinergics such as hyoscyamine or dicyclomine)

Fatty (bloating and steatorrhea in many, but not all cases)

• Malabsorption syndrome (damage to or loss of absorptive ability)
  • Amyloidosis
  • Carbohydrate malabsorption (e.g., lactose intolerance)
  • Celiac sprue (gluten enteropathy)–various clinical presentations
  • Gastric bypass
  • Lymphatic damage (e.g., congestive heart failure, some lymphomas)
  • Medications (e.g., orlistat Xenical; inhibits fat absorption, acarbose Precose; inhibits carbohydrate absorption])
  • Mesenteric ischemia
  • Noninvasive small bowel parasite (e.g., Giardia)
  • Postresection diarrhea
  • Short bowel syndrome
  • Small bowel bacterial overgrowth (> 105 bacteria per mL)
  • Tropical sprue
  • Whipple disease (Tropheryma whippelii infection)
• Maldigestion (loss of digestive function)
  • Hepatobiliary disorders
  • Inadequate luminal bile acid
  • Loss of regulated gastric emptying
  • Pancreatic exocrine insufficiency

Table showing fatty causes of chronic diarrhea ( Table 2)

Cause	Osmotic gap		History	Physical exam	Gold standard	Treatment
	< 50 mOsm per kg	> 125 mOsm per kg*
lactose intolerance	-	+	Bloating, Flatulence Abdominal pain, and/or chronic diarrhea after ingestion of lactose	Abdominal tenderness when palpated in severe disease Fever Hypotension Tachycardia Nausea and vomitting	Lactose breath hydrogen test	Restriction of lactose and maintain calcium and vitamin D intake.
Celiac sprue	-	+	Diarrhea with bulky, foul-smelling stools Growth failure in children, Weight loss, Anemia, Neurologic disorders Osteopenia	Neuropsychiatric disease Dermatitis herpetiformis Arthritis Iron deficiency Metabolic bone disease Hyposplenism Kidney disease Idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis	Immunoglobulin A (IgA) anti-tissue transglutaminase (TTG) antibody followed by upper ebdoscopy with biopsy.	Dietary counseling, elimination of gluten in the diet.
Whipple disease	-	+	Arthralgias Weight loss Diarrhea Abdominal pain	Leukocytopenia Thrombocytopenia Skin hyperpigmentation	Upper endoscopy with biopsies of the small intestine for T. whipplei testing (histology with PAS staining, polymerase chain reaction [PCR] testing, and immunohistochemistry)	Doxycycline and hydroxychloroquine was bactericidal

Inflammatory or exudative (elevated white blood cell count, occult or frank blood or pus)

• Inflammatory bowel disease Crohn disease (ileal or early Crohn disease may be secretory)
  • Diverticulitis
  • Ulcerative colitis
  • Ulcerative jejunoileitis
• Invasive infectious diseases
  • Clostridium difficile (pseudomembranous) colitis–antibiotic history
  • Invasive bacterial infections (e.g., tuberculosis, yersiniosis)
  • Invasive parasitic infections (e.g., Entamoeba)–travel history
  • Ulcerating viral infections (e.g., cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus)
• Neoplasia
  • Colon carcinoma
  • Lymphoma
  • Villous adenocarcinoma
• Radiation colitis

Table showing inflammatory causes of chronic diarrhea ( Table 3)

Cause	History	Laboratory findings	Diagnosis	Treatment
Diverticulitis	Bloody diarrhea Left lower quadrant abdominal pain Abdominal tenderness on physical examination Low grade fever	Leukocytosis Elevated serum amylase and lipase Sterile pyuria on urinalysis	Abdominal CT scan with oral and intravenous (IV) contrast	bowel rest, IV fluid resuscitation, and broad-spectrum antimicrobial therapy which covers anaerobic bacteria and gram-negative rods
Ulcerative colitis	Diarrhea mixed with blood and mucus, of gradual onset. Signs of weight loss Rectal urgency Tenesmus Blood is often noticed on underwear Different degrees of abdominal pain	Anemia Thrombocytosis A high platelet count Elvated ESR (>30mm/hr) Low albumin	Endoscopy	Induction of remission with mesalamine and corticosteroids followed by the administration of sulfasalazine and 6-Mercaptopurine depending on the severity of the disease. See ...
Entamoeba histolytica	Abdominal cramps Diarrhea Passage of 3 - 8 semiformed stools per day Passage of soft stools with mucus and occasional blood Fatigue Intestinal gas (excessive flatus) Rectal pain while having a bowel movement (tenesmus) Unintentional weight loss	cysts shed with the stool	detects ameba DNA in feces	Amebic dysentery ; Metronidazole 500-750mg three times a day for 5-10 days Tinidazole 2g once a day for 3 days is an alternative to metronidazole Luminal amebicides for E. histolytica in the colon: Paromomycin 500mg three times a day for 10 days Diloxanide furoate 500mg three times a day for 10 days Iodoquinol 650mg three times a day for 20 days For amebic liver abscess: Metronidazole 400mg three times a day for 10 days Tinidazole 2g once a day for 6 days is an alternative to metronidazole Diloxanide furoate 500mg three times a day for 10 days must always be given afterwards.

References

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