Bristol Stool Scale
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The Bristol Stool Scale or Bristol Stool Chart is a medical aid designed to classify the feces form into seven groups. It was developed by Heaton and Lewis at the University of Bristol and was first published in the Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology in 1997 [1]. The form of the stool depends on the time it spends in the colon. [2]
The seven types of stool are:
- Type 1: Separate hard lumps, like nuts (hard to pass)
- Type 2: Sausage-shaped, but lumpy
- Type 3: Like a sausage but with cracks on its surface
- Type 4: Like a sausage or snake, smooth and soft
- Type 5: Soft blobs with clear cut edges (passed easily)
- Type 6: Fluffy pieces with ragged edges, a mushy stool
- Type 7: Watery, no solid pieces (entirely liquid)
Types 1 and 2 indicate constipation[3]; 3 and (especially) 4 are the preferred types of stools as they are the easiest to pass. Types 5-7 are more symptomatic of diarrhea.
Ironically, United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust and North Bristol NHS Trust—the largest NHS trusts in Bristol—do not use the Bristol Stool Scale.
[edit] References
- ^ (September 1997) "Stool form scale as a useful guide to intestinal transit time". Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology 32 (9): 920 – 924. Retrieved on 2006-11-06.
- ^ How to diagnose Irritable Bowel Syndrome?. Solvay Pharmaceuticals. Retrieved on 2006-11-06.
- ^ Constipation Management and Nurse Prescribing: The importance of developing a concordant approach (PDF). Retrieved on 2006-11-06.
[edit] External links
- (2004) "Faecal incontinence and constipation" (PDF). CME Geriartric Medicine 6 (3): 99 – 108. Retrieved on 2006-11-06.
- Childhood Constipation
