TABLE 9-1.

DIFFERENTIATION OF CHRONIC SMALL INTESTINAL DIARRHEA FROM CHRONIC LARGE INTESTINAL DIARRHEA

	SMALL INTESTINAL DIARRHEA	LARGE INTESTINAL DIARRHEA
Weight loss (very important criterion)	Expected	Uncommon except with severe disease (e.g., histoplasmosis, pythiosis, or cancer)
Polyphagia	Often present	Uncommon
Vomiting	May occur	Occurs in 10%–20% of patients
Volume of feces	May be normal or larger than normal	May be normal or smaller than normal
Frequency of defecation	Normal to slightly increased	Normal to markedly increased, may have many small defecations per bowel movement
Slate-gray feces (steatorrhea)	Rare	No
Hematochezia	No	Sometimes
Melena	Rare	No
Mucoid stools	Rare (unless ileum is diseased)	Often present
Tenesmus/dyschezia	Rare	Sometimes