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Symptoms that may require investigation for gastroenterological disease include:
Abdominal pain
Heartburn
Reflux of acid, water or food into the throat
Chronic cough from refluxed gastric acid
Bloated sensation in the abdomen
Distension or swelling of the abdomen
Difficulty in swallowing
Painful swallowing
Constipation
Diarrhoea
Change of bowel habit or pattern from the usual
Black stools (which may indicate altered blood from bleeding)
Coffee-ground-like substances vomited
(which may indicate altered blood being vomited)
Fresh blood vomited
Fresh blood passed from the rectum
Loss of appetite
Loss of weight
General un-wellness or lethargy
Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of eyes)
Dark coloured urine
Pale coloured stools
Triad of jaundice, abdominal pain and fever
(gallstone obstruction with infection)
In addition, if there is a family history of some potentially genetically transmissible gastrointestinal disorders such as polyps or cancer of the stomach and colon, it may be beneficial for relatives to be screened. The closer the relationship, the more important it is to be screened.
Abnormal results in health screening tests may require further investigations to check for gastrointestinal diseases. These tests include:
Positive faecal occult blood (microscopic blood found in the stools)
Anaemia (lack of the red blood pigment haemoglobin)
Abnormal levels of cancer markers in the blood
Abnormal features on x-ray, barium or ultrasound examinations
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