What's in a stool sample?
Poo...it comes out of all of our kids and us (and if it doesn't you should come and see me!) but it can vary so much in its consistency and appearance.
What is normal, what gives it its colour (or colours) and what do the different consistencies mean?
As a paediatric gastroenterologist it has become so normal for me to openly discuss poo with my patients and families, that I can sometimes forget (until my kids remind me!) that for some it is still an awkward topic to discuss.
When I asked some parent's recently what topics they would like to know more about with regard to their children's digestive health, some of the replies were about poo and its consistency and colour.
So I've put together a simple guide about what is and what isn't normal poo in babies and children for parents. It covers the basics and is not exhaustive in its approach. Always remember though that if you have concerns about your child, you should seek medical attention regardless of what you read below, as this is only meant to be a helpful basic guide to this topic.
WARNING!!:
Be prepared for a few food related references when it comes to descriptions...seems to be the way with us medics.
Poo frequency -How often should my child poo?
In the beginning...
Most babies born at term will pass their first poo or Meconium (a thick dark tar like) poo within the first 48 hours of life. Delays greater than 48 hours may be a sign of a problem such as
Hirschsprung's disease
where the bowel's nervous system hasn't developed fully leading to a bowel obstruction. There may be other symptoms including a swollen or distended belly, green/bile stained vomiting and even blood-stained diarrhoea. Feeding may be off and there may also be concerns about growth. Occasionally it presents later in life with really difficult to treat constipation in an older child.
As a rough guide....
Breast fed babies can poo as often as with every breast feed or just once a week! The consistency and colour is often described as mustard-like with seeds.
Formula fed infants generally poo less often than their breast fed compatriots and the consistency is a little firmer, more peanut-butter like ( I did warn you...!)
As children get older, their bowel habits and frequency of pooing is similar to adults. Even we (adults) can vary widely with our bowel habits, from 3 times a week to 3 times a day! This often comes as a surprise to families when I mention this in clinic.
An important point to note is that constipation is not defined only by the frequency or infrequency of bowel movements. Other symptoms such as pain, straining, accidental leakage, signs of stool witholding all need to be considered as well. The bowel habits of your child will change over time and in the first year of life may change in the first few months, with milk changes or when moving over to solid foods.
The whole picture of your child and their health, including growth patterns, needs to be considered rather than just one aspect when assessing bowel function.
Poo colour - What colour should my child's Poo be ?
The colour of poo is influenced by what we eat but is mostly derived from pigments. These organic pigments (bilins) come from the breakdown of the haem protein found within red blood cells as they get recycled towards the end of their lifespan. The pigments include biliverdin and bilirubin (the pigment that causes jaundice) and eventually end up as stercobilin. Now from the distant memory of a non-linguist verde means green and sterco refers to droppings or dung!
What are normal poo colours?
Generally anything green
and various shades of brown are normal.
Just a note about Yellow
poo - if poo appears excessively fatty, is difficult to flush away and quite stinky, then this may indicate a problem with fat maldigestion/absorption and should be evaluated.
Colours to be concerned about
include :
Red
or black
These colours may indicate bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract.
Bright red
blood usually indicates fresh bleeding from a source closer to the exit or even just around the exit - a small fissure or tear in the skin around the bottom after a hard poo has been passed for example is a common cause.
Black
stools can indicate blood that has had time to be digested by gut enzymes, so usually the source of bleeding is higher up the digestive tract. The poo passed is known as melaena and often has a tar-like appearance with a characteristic smell. It should always be evaluated thoroughly by a specialist.
This is unless of course you've recently had red food colouring / beetroot or are taking iron tablets (cause poo to turn black) etc. If your bowel habit is a little on the infrequent side, it can come as quite a surprise to see red/purple coloured toilet water/poo a couple of days after eating beetroot !
White or Clay
The other colour or lack of colour I should say, to cause concern, is when the stools are very pale and have a white or clay like appearance
-this can indicate that the bile pigments produced in the liver aren't passing through the bile pipework easily. They can't reach the gut so the stool produced has no colour.
An example of this may be in a newborn infant who develops jaundice after a few days and that doesn't fade away. Prolonged jaundice in a newborn (for two weeks in a term baby or 3 weeks in a baby born prematurely) and in whom the poo is very pale...needs to be evaluated thoroughly as this may indicate a condition known as
biliary atresia. This needs to be promptly diagnosed and treated.
That's why part of the clinical examination of a jaundiced baby should ALWAYS include having a look at a poo sample.
Poo consistency - How hard or soft should my child's poo be?
Poo consistency reflects the time spent travelling through the large intestine or colon. One of the main functions of this organ is to reabsorb water from faeces, so that the final poo passed is solid and smooth.
Poo researchers have studied the effect of bowel transit time on the consistency of poo and have produced charts such as the Bristol stool chart. This has 7 different stool consistencies 1 to 7. I even walk around with one in my clinic !! I find that it is sometimes a lot easier to use a chart when asking for a description of poo, than relying on words. It can also often make for a light hearted-moment in clinic.
The longer a poo resides in the bowel before exit, the more water is absorbed from it leaving harder type 1, 2 or 3 stool consistency. Poo that leaves the bowel in a hurry is more type 6 or 7.
Ideally we should see type 4 (a smooth slippery sausage like poo) being passed.
Bowel diary and poo charts
As a busy parent, I can't accurately know all of my family's bowel habits! I imagine this may be the case with a fair few other parents as well. Collecting this type of information along with stool consistency can be really useful to look at together in clinic, and so I will often recommend this 'homework' exercise be used. There are various bowel diaries available but one really fun one is here.
For more information about poo please have a look at this excellent
poo-torial from Guts UK, a charity that funds research into all things Gastrointestinal including the pancreas.
If
you have worries or concerns about your child's poo or other tummy troubles:
Please don't hesitate to be in touch. If you're looking to discuss things further or want to arrange to have a thorough paediatric gastroenterology assessment then please have a look at the main website for more information regarding
Kids Gastro Care clinics and how to book an appointment with me.
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