Is Bright Red Blood In Stool Due To Braces Worn For Idiopathic Scoliosis By A 4-year-old?

Posted on Thu, 1 Mar 2018

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 1 Mar 2018 Answered on

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 Last reviewed on

Question : My daughter who is 4 years old has just got her first brace for idiopathic scoliosis two days ago. Yesterday she had bright red blood in her stool, could this be related to how tight the brace is or to her severely S shaped spinal curve?

Answered by Dr. Bonnie Berger-Durnbaugh (26 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Thoughts on this

Detailed Answer:

Hello,

Bright red blood that is actually mixed in to the stool means there is bleeding within the gastrointestinal tract, and usually if it is red, from somewhere lower than the stomach because the acid in the stomach turns blood that is from the esophagus or stomach to a black tarry color (although if there is a lot of blood, it can still be from the stomach).

In a young child, usually blood in the stool is actually on the outside of the stool from a small rectal tear from a hard bowel movement. Usually there is some irritation or discomfort when wiping if this happened. However, I don't know all of your daughter's health issues so I can't say for sure, but it would be unlikely to be from the brace.

If she didn't have a hard/large bowel movement and if the blood was in the stool, rather than on the outside of the stool and the toilet paper, then she should be seen by her doctor or the A and E.

Hope I have answered your query.

Regards,
Dr. Bonnie Berger-Durnbaugh
General & Family Physician

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar