Currant Jelly Stools
Ischaemia of the intestine leads to copious mucus production and may indicate that one part of the bowel invaginates into another intussusception.
Currant jelly stools. Similar stools are passed in those with juvenile retention polyps. Currant jelly stool intussusception currant jelly stool this is a case i had and when the director of pediatrics heard about it i was asked to write it up and present it in lecture format to the 1st and 2nd year medical students. Learn about the signs of intussusception in babies and children and how it is diagnosed and treated by our experts. Intussusception is an uncommon disorder that affects children of all ages especially those under the age of 2.
Does your child have currant jelly stool. Dark red gelatinous stools composed of blood and mucus which have been fancifully likened to red currant jelly us jam uk passed by children with intussusception. Although the frequency of currant jelly stools ranged from 50 to 85 3 5 7 9 one text cited fewer than 50 2 the actual frequency of currant jelly stools in this study cohort was 9 14 if currant jelly on rectal exam is included. Feces that contain blood and products of inflammation which cause it to resemble currant jelly in appearance.
Other frequent signs and symptoms of intussusception include. These painful episodes last longer and happen more often as time passes. Diverticulitis edit inflammation of the diverticulum can mimic symptoms of appendicitis i e periumbilical tenderness and intermittent crampy abdominal pain. Stool mixed with blood and mucus sometimes referred to as currant jelly stool because of its appearance vomiting.
The pain of intussusception comes and goes usually every 15 to 20 minutes at first. This creates the classically described red currant jelly stool which is a mixture of sloughed mucosa blood and mucus. Since stools truly resembling currant jelly account for a minority of the grossly bloody stools in intussusception the term currant jelly stools should be assessed in the teaching of intussusception. A study reported that in actuality only a minority of children with intussusception had stools that could be described as red currant jelly and hence intussusception should be considered in the differential diagnosis of children passing any type of bloody stool.
The clinical presentation of intussusception in adults can be variable posing a challenge to diagnosis.