Your doctor may want to do tests. It will help to rule out other health problems like inflammatory bowel disease, colon or rectal cancers, or infections.

Tests may be:

Blood tests—to rule out anemia, infection, or cancer
Fecal occult blood test—to check for traces of blood in the stool
Colonoscopy—to look at the colon

Colonoscopy

References:

Diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases website. Available at: https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/irritable-bowel-syndrome/diagnosis. Updated November 2017. Accessed August 27, 2019.

Ford AC, Lacy BE, Talley NJ. Irritable bowel syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2017;376(26):2566-2578.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.dynamed.... Updated September 10, 2018. Accessed August 26, 2019.

Last reviewed August 2019 by EBSCO Medical Review Board James P. Cornell, MD
Last Updated: 8/27/2019

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