What examinations are carried out to make a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis?
Your doctor will begin by taking a medical history of symptoms and performing a physical examination. Further diagnostic testing will be needed, though, to make a diagnosis and to see how severe the disease is. This includes standard blood and stool tests, various imaging studies (such as x-ray), endoscopies and biopsy (when tiny samples of the intestine are taken). Endoscopy allows the doctor to view the mucous membrane of the colon directly and to perform biopsies. The biopsy process is safe and is usually not painful.
