Cala Study

Stool Study: Meaning and Application

Stool examination is an important part of the examination of a patient with intestinal diseases. It includes macroscopic, microscopic and simple chemical examination. Microbiological examination of stool is carried out if an infectious intestinal disease is suspected.

Macroscopic examination of stool

The daily amount of feces in a healthy person depends on the quality and quantity of food and is on average 100-200 g. The amount of feces increases with abundant plant food, poor absorption (for example, with diseases of the pancreas), accelerated peristalsis; and decreases with predominantly protein foods, constipation, and fasting.

The shape of stool is largely determined by its consistency. Normal stool is sausage-shaped and soft in consistency. With constipation, the stool is dense; with spastic colitis, it has the form of lumps (“sheep feces”). A ribbon-shaped bowel movement may occur due to a tumor in the rectum or sphincter spasm.

The consistency of stool depends on the water, fat and fiber content. If the fat content is high, the consistency becomes ointment-like. With diarrhea, the feces are liquid, particles of undigested food with various impurities are visible in it: with cholera, the impurity looks like rice water with flakes of mucus, with typhoid fever it looks like pea soup. If fermentation processes predominate in the intestines, the stools are loose and foamy.

The color of stool depends on the presence of bile pigments in it. If bile does not enter the intestines, the stool becomes gray in color. The color also depends on the products consumed: with dairy foods, the stool is light yellow, with meat it is dark, green vegetables give the stool a greenish tint, blueberries and black currants are brown, liver and blood sausage are black.

Some medicinal substances can also affect the color of stool: coal, bismuth, iron, carbolene color it black, santonin and rhubarb - brown or reddish; many antibiotics, when taken orally, give stool a golden yellow color.

The smell of feces depends mainly on the presence in it of substances formed during the decay of proteins. With a predominantly plant-based diet, fermentation processes predominate in the intestines, and the smell of feces is weaker and unstable. With heavy consumption of meat products or fish, the smell of feces is more pungent and unpleasant. Also, the smell of stool may change if there is an infectious process in the intestines or with certain diseases, for example, cystic fibrosis.

Microscopic examination of stool

Microscopic examination of stool is carried out to identify the presence of various elements in it, such as blood, mucus, epithelium, leukocytes, bacteria, fungi, etc.

The presence of blood in the stool may indicate the presence of various diseases, such as peptic ulcers of the stomach and duodenum, intestinal infections, intestinal tumors, etc. Mucus in the stool may indicate various diseases, for example, inflammatory processes in the intestines. The presence of leukocytes in the stool may indicate the presence of an infectious process.

Microbiological examination of stool

Microbiological examination of stool is carried out if an infectious intestinal disease is suspected. It allows you to identify the causative agent of the disease and determine its sensitivity to antibiotics.

Simple chemical examination of stool

A simple chemical study of stool is carried out to determine the presence of fatty acids, neutral fats, iron compounds, etc. This makes it possible to evaluate the functioning of the digestive system and identify the presence of various diseases.

Thus, stool examination is an important method for diagnosing intestinal diseases. It allows you to identify the presence of various elements in stool, determine the functioning of the digestive system and identify the presence of infectious diseases. In this regard, it is recommended to conduct a stool examination when examining patients with intestinal diseases.