Occult bleeding test
Occult gastrointestinal bleeding refers to the loss of blood from various digestive lesions into the feces and is unobservable with the naked eye. Thus, daily losses of up to 100 ml of blood do not change the appearance of the stool.
The Occult Bleeding Test (FOBT) is currently the first screening investigation for colorectal cancer because colon polyps and tumors can cause small amounts of blood to be present in the stool. The bleeding rate in the case of polyps increases with the size of the polyps, and in the case of colorectal cancer with its stage.
Thus, the test facilitates the selection of patients at risk for further specific investigations such as colonoscopy. Studies have shown that using this test significantly reduced colorectal cancer mortality.
How the test is performed
The patient receives the harvesting kit at the DigestMed reception. Stool harvesting is done at home without the need for dietary changes or stopping any treatment. Afterwards, the container must be brought within 5 days to the DigestMed clinic where the test is performed quickly, in about 2 minutes.
At the DigestMed clinic we have a quantitative test for occult bleeding that allows the classification of the risk into: absent, risk of small polyps, risk of advanced polyps and risk of colorectal cancer. This way we find out if the patient needs a colonoscopic evaluation and how urgent it is.
The test is positive at a fecal Hb concentration of 75-100 ng / ml (15-20 µg Hb / g fecal).
Patients with test values of 80-99 ng / ml fall into the high-risk category and require screening colonoscopy.
Reference intervals
Adenoma: 155 ng / ml (84-226)
Advanced adenoma: 559 ng / ml (199-918)
Colorectal cancer: 709 ng / ml (536-881)
Experienced medical team
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Why DigestMed?
Full Medical Services
Our activity takes place in a pleasant and welcoming environment and we value hygiene and cleanliness. This way we can offer our patients safety, comfort and high quality complete medical services.
Appointments
Each patient is important to us and we strive to respect the appointment times. However, the scheduled time might get pushed further due to cases that require investigations more thorough than initially anticipated.
Informed patients
Within each specialized department within the DigestMed clinic, patients are informed about their upcoming investigations and specialists promptly answer any health-related question they might have.
Medical team
DigestMed is happy to introduce you to its medical team: skillful doctors with extensive experience. Their investigations lead to quick and effective treatment, tailored to each patient’s specific needs.