my mother was diagnosed with cirrohs and liver cancer. she is now passing black diareha and looks like coal. went to er and they could not get a sample and did rectum sample with nothing there ;sent her home. is this serious and should we be concerned this evening
Black Diarrhea or Galena means altered blood in Stools. This usually occurs due to upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Which could be due to Gastric or duodenal ulcer, bleeding esophageal varietal bleeding. Since the patient is having cirrhosis, it is likely that she may have esophageal varices. She needs an upper GI endoscopy urgently