What should you know about site of ulcerative colitis?

Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel condition affecting the inner lining of the rectum and colon. The inflamed area may be limited to the rectum or may extend through more of the colon. It does not usually affect the small intestine, although inflammation near the junction can occasionally be seen. Common features include diarrhoea, blood or mucus in stool, urgency, abdominal pain, and a feeling that the bowel has not emptied. Symptoms can flare and settle, and their pattern does not by itself establish the diagnosis.

Arrange a GP Consultation for persistent diarrhoea, rectal bleeding, recurrent abdominal pain, unexplained tiredness, or a sustained change in bowel habit. Assessment may include questions about symptoms, examination, blood tests, stool tests, medicines, travel, and family history. A specialist may use a camera test of the bowel with biopsies to identify inflammation and rule out other causes. Keep a record of stool frequency, blood or mucus, pain, fever, weight change, food triggers, and medicines. Follow the treatment plan even when symptoms improve unless your clinician changes it.

Seek urgent medical help for heavy rectal bleeding, severe or rapidly worsening abdominal pain, a swollen abdomen with vomiting, high fever, fainting, confusion, or inability to keep fluids down. Prompt review is needed when diarrhoea is frequent, bloody, or accompanied by dehydration signs such as very dark urine, dizziness, or marked weakness. A sudden change can represent a flare or another urgent bowel problem.

Ask which bowel area may be involved, what tests are needed, how to recognise a flare, which medicines to use during worsening symptoms, and whether Colorectal Cancer Screening is appropriate for your history.