The differential diagnosis for chronic diarrhea is enormous, with a large number of diagnostic tests available that can be used to evaluate these patients. Classifying a patient's chronic diarrhea into a subcategory such as watery, fatty and inflammatory helps to direct the diagnostic work-up. Some watery causes of chronic diarrhea which should be differentiated from one another include crohn's disease, hyperthyroidism, VIPoma, lactose intolerance, celiac disease and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The causes of fatty diarrhea that should be differentiated from one another include celiac sprue, pancreatic insufficiency, bacterial overgrowth and maldigestion problems which results from pancreatic exocrine insufficiency. Finally, the inflammatory causes of chronic diarrhea such as ulcerative colitis and entamoeba histolytica must also be differentiated.
Chronic diarrhea differential diagnosis
Chronic diarrhea other diagnostic studies
Stomatitis differential diagnosis
Ileus other diagnostic studies
Campylobacteriosis differential diagnosis
Acute diarrhea other diagnostic studies
Crohn's disease differential diagnosis
Nausea and vomiting differential diagnosis