What Causes Mucus Discharge From Rectum?

Posted on Thu, 3 Apr 2014

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

Thu, 3 Apr 2014 Answered on

Tue, 29 Apr 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I've had a colostomy for eight years. In the past six months, I've had a lot of mucus coming out my rectum. I've been wearing maxi pads to catch it. I'm in a wheelchair, also. What can be done? Irrigation?

Answered by Dr. Abhijit Deshmukh (14 hours later)

Brief Answer: Hello, Detailed Answer: Thank you for the query. Well we need to do a sigmoidoscopy to look for inflammation in the rectum and sigmoid colon, as long standing colostomy can cause mucosal lining swelling inside the rectum called as diversion colitis. Also if you have received radiation in past or inflammation in rectum previously then possibility of recurrent disease needs to be evaluated by a sigmoidoscopy. Then the further line of treatment needs to be decided. Irrigation is not likely to help. Hope this answers your query. Wish you a speedy recovery. Happy to help.

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