How Do You Diagnose Inflammatory Bowel Disease?
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) refers to a disorder that involves inflammation of the colon or rectum. Doctors find it difficult to diagnose inflammatory bowel disease because the symptoms are shared with many other disorders and health complications. Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are the most diagnosed conditions and many patients live with IBD symptoms that doctors are unable to diagnose as one particular disorder. Read on to learn how to diagnose inflammatory bowel disease. Step 1 Expect to undergo a sigmoidoscopy. A sigmoidoscopy helps a doctor diagnose ulcerative colitis by examining and taking pictures of the rectum and sigmoid (or left) colon. The procedure is done with tubing inserted into the rectum with a camera on the end called an endoscope. Step 2 Request a colonoscopy for a complete picture of rectum and colon health. A colonoscopy entails an endoscope traveling through the rectum and the entire large bowel while the patient is under sedation. A colonoscopy is
