ME24.A4

Melaena

Melena

Category

Definition

It is bloody stools that indicate bleeding from vascular system in the digestive tract. It is also described as black, tarry, and foul-smelling stools or red/maroon-coloured stools that contain degraded blood.

Exclusions

  • occult blood in faeces

Index Terms

Melaenaaltered blood in stoolaltered blood passed per rectumtarry stoolsblack tarry stoolmelaena due to gastrointestinal haemorrhageblood in faecesblood in stoolbloody stoolfaeces bloodstainedpassage of bloody stools