A disease in disguise, one that mimics other gastrointestinal diseases and a difficult challenge for healthcare providers, diagnosing Crohn’s disease is most certainly a difficult task for healthcare providers.
Because it mimics so many other diseases, Crohn’s disease may initially be misdiagnosed as another G.I. ailments.
Symptoms absolutely vary from person to person and there are no strict guidelines for physicians to follow that definitively point to a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease. Therein lies the challenge. There is not one absolute test that your health care provider can use in diagnosing Crohn’s disease definitively and so diagnosing Crohn’s disease becomes a bit of a puzzle.
There are several medical procedures that can be performed that can help either to rule out or to confirm Crohn’s disease. One of the easiest and least expensive and least invasive tests is an examination of a stool sample.
By examining the stool sample your medical provider can determine whether the diarrhea and bowel disturbances that you are experiencing are associated with inflammation or are the result of an infection. In the case of Crohn’s disease, inflammation of the G.I. tract presents itself as if there is an infection but there is no infection present. So you can see by obtaining a simple stool sample several possibilities can easily be ruled out.
Your health care provider may also select to do a group of standardized blood tests such as a complete blood count to check for signs of infection and anemia related to blood loss, a colonoscopy, a barium enema, a flexible sigmoidoscopy, a small bowel x-ray study, a capsule endoscopy, or even a CT scan of the abdomen.
If your blood work shows that anemia is present then Crohn’s disease may be a possible diagnosis. If your blood work shows that an infection is present then that piece of the puzzle would point to the fact that Crohn’s disease is not likely.
So you should already be able to see how difficult diagnosing Crohn’s disease can be.
However, just like putting the pieces of a puzzle together your physician should keep on going until a definitive diagnosis is made. You are worth it.
A further review of your symptoms may indicate bloody diarrhea and even rectal bleeding. With excessive blood loss your blood work may show signs of anemia. So, here’s another piece of the puzzle, if you are anemic it is possible that you are in route to a definitive diagnosis of Crohn’s disease.
Your physician may also elect to perform a colonoscopy.
This procedure is generally done by a gastroenterologist trained in the procedure. After a stringent bowel prep prior to the exam, your physician and a will insert a flexible lighted tube with an attached camera through your rectum and into the colon to check for any evidence of Crohn’s disease.
It is important to remember with any medical procedure and there are risks associated with it. Risk associated with a colonoscopy include G.I. bleeding and perforation of the colon wall. It is also wise to remember that Crohn’s disease may only be evident in the small intestine and not the colon and so in this case a colonoscopy would be completely and totally ineffective in diagnosing Crohn’s disease.
Another medical exam that your physician may order is a flexible sigmoidoscopy. This exam, similar to the colonoscopy, occurs when your physician inserts a long tube into the rectum; however, this tube does not contain a camera. Your physician would use the lighted tube to look at the inside of the last 2 feet of the colon to see if there are any signs of Crohn’s disease so that a definitive diagnosis could be made.
The downfall of the flexible sigmoidoscopy is that it only looks at the last 2 feet of the colon and so if the evidence of Crohn’s disease is located higher up in the colon then this exam is useless.
So diagnosing Crohn’s disease is much like putting the pieces of a giant puzzle together, but your physician should be well trained in the research and proper placement of all the puzzle pieces so that you can get a quick and accurate diagnosis.
Because it mimics so many other diseases diagnosing Crohn’s disease can be a challenge. However, it is a challenge that is certainly worth undertaking so that you can get back to being a healthy you.