Fecal occult blood

Fecal occult blood
Fecal occult blood
	Cards and bottle used for the Hemoccult test, a type of stool guaiac test
Specialty	Gastroenterology, general surgery

Fecal occult blood (FOB) refers to blood in the feces that is not visibly apparent (unlike other types of blood in stool such as melena or hematochezia). A fecal occult blood test (FOBT) checks for hidden (occult) blood in the stool (feces).^[1]

The American College of Gastroenterology has recommended the abandoning of gFOBT testing as a colorectal cancer screening tool, in favor of the fecal immunochemical test (FIT).^[2] The newer and recommended tests look for globin, DNA, or other blood factors including transferrin, while conventional stool guaiac tests look for heme.

^ Beg M, Singh M, Saraswat MK, Rewari BB (2002). "Occult Gastrointestinal Bleeding: Detection, Interpretation, and Evaluation" (PDF). JIACM. 3 (2): 153–58. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2010-11-22.
^ Rex DK, Johnson DA, Anderson JC, Schoenfeld PS, Burke CA, Inadomi JM (March 2009). "American College of Gastroenterology guidelines for colorectal cancer screening 2009 [corrected]". The American Journal of Gastroenterology. 104 (3): 739–750. doi:10.1038/ajg.2009.104. PMID 19240699. S2CID 295873.

[1] Beg M, Singh M, Saraswat MK, Rewari BB (2002). "Occult Gastrointestinal Bleeding: Detection, Interpretation, and Evaluation" (PDF). JIACM. 3 (2): 153–58. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2010-11-22.

[American_College_of_Gastroenterology_Guidelines_for_Colorectal_Cancer_Screening_2008-2] Rex DK, Johnson DA, Anderson JC, Schoenfeld PS, Burke CA, Inadomi JM (March 2009). "American College of Gastroenterology guidelines for colorectal cancer screening 2009 [corrected]". The American Journal of Gastroenterology. 104 (3): 739–750. doi:10.1038/ajg.2009.104. PMID 19240699. S2CID 295873.

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