Bleeding haemorrhoids

Dear Ask The Doctor: I had a large bowel movement last night and also had a lot of sharp flatulence yesterday. This morning I noticed some stains from the flatulence on the back part of my underwear along with a small spot of blood in the same area. I have had hemmorhoids in the past but don't know if I have them now. Two weeks ago I had an abdominal/pelvic CT scan with no intestinal problems noted. The scan was for an unrelated reason. I also had a routine colonscopy a month ago, which was normal. I am assuming these tests would have ruled out any serious problems that might have caused the small amount of blood, but I wanted to check to be certain. Also, I am thinking the anus/rectum would be seen on a CT scan of the abdomen. Is that true? Thanks very much.

Dear Susan:This small amount of bleeding from the rectum you describe may have been secondary to bleeding from haemorrhoids, especially after a large bowel movement and excess flatulence. If both a colonoscopy and abdominal/pelvic CT scan were reported as normal less than 1 month ago, then this small amount of blood is not due to any significant bowel disease, because the rectum and anus are visualized on these two investigations. However if your symptoms do not improve, contact your family doctor for further management options for your haemorrhoids.