Repeated bouts of hematochezia in an 80-year-old hypertensive man

Presentation of Case An 80-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of repeated bouts of hematochezia during several hours before entry. The patient was in stable health until two or three days earlier, when he experienced crampy pain in both lower abdominal quadrants that lasted for several minutes. At 4 a.m. on the day of admission he passed a stool and observed gross blood in the toilet. Later in the morning he passed four more semiformed stools, each accompanied by gross blood, and in addition soiled his undergarments twice with blood that he passed without ability to control his . . .