Microscopic Colitis
(Lymphocytic
Colitis and Collagenous Colitis)
Medical Author: Dennis Lee, M.D.
Medical Editor: Jay Marks, M.D.
What is colitis?
Colitis means inflammation of the colon. The colon, also
known as the large intestine or large bowel,
constitutes the last part of the digestive tract. The colon is a long, muscular
tube that receives undigested food from the small intestine. It removes water
from the undigested food, stores it and then eliminates it from the body through
bowel movements. The rectum is the last part of the colon adjacent to the anus. The common symptoms of colitis include:
There are many different types of colitis
with different causes. Some examples of colitis include:
- infectious colitis caused by bacteria (such as shigella,
Campylobacter, E.
coli, and C.
difficile)
- infectious colitis caused by virus (such as CMV)
- radiation colitis (such as following treatment with
radiation for treating prostate cancer)
- ischemic colitis (such as blockage of an artery in
the colon by a blood
clot. If the blood clot
interrupts the flow of blood to a segment of the colon, the result is
inflammation of that segment and, sometimes, even death-gangrene-of the
segment)
- Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (two related
conditions that are caused by abnormalities of the body's immune system in which the body is inappropriately making antibodies and
chemicals that attack the colon)
Infectious, radiation, ischemic, ulcerative, and Crohn's colitis all have
visible abnormalities in the inner lining of the colon. These abnormalities
include edema (swelling of the lining),
redness, bleeding of the lining with gentle rubbing (friability), and ulcers.
These abnormalities can be seen during either colonoscopy (examination of the
entire colon using a long flexible viewing tube) or flexible sigmoidoscopy
(examination of the rectum and the sigmoid colon; the segment of the colon closest to the rectum).
Edema and inflammation of the colon's lining interferes
with the absorption of water from the undigested food, and the unabsorbed water
exits the rectum as diarrhea. Pus and fluid also are secreted into the colon and
add to the diarrhea. The redness, bleeding of the lining with gentle rubbing
(friability), and ulcerations in the lining of the colon contribute to rectal
bleeding.
Next: What diseases are not colitis? »
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