From Wikidoc - Reading time: 10 min

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Sadaf Sharfaei M.D.[2], Seyedmahdi Pahlavani, M.D. [3]
The differentials of acute diarrhea include Ischemic colitis, Lactose intolerance, Tropical sprue, Pseudomembranous enterocolitis, Campylobacteriosis, Salmonellosis, Shigellosis, Escherichia coli enteritis, Yersinia enterocolitica, Vibrio cholera, Aeromonas, Plesiomonas, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens, Rotavirus, Norovirus, Adenovirus, Entamoeba histolytica, medications, Short bowel syndrome, Organophosphate poisoning, Radiation enteritis and Opium withdrawal.
To review the differential diagnosis of diarrhea, click here.
To review the differential diagnosis of traveler's diarrhea, click here.
To review the differential diagnosis of acute watery diarrhea, click here.
To review the differential diagnosis of acute bloody diarrhea, click here.
To review the differential diagnosis of acute fatty diarrhea, click here.
To review the differential diagnosis of acute diarrhea and fever, click here.
To review the differential diagnosis of acute diarrhea and abdominal pain, click here.
To review the differential diagnosis of acute diarrhea and weight loss, click here.
To review the differential diagnosis of acute diarrhea, fever, and abdominal pain, click here.
To review the differential diagnosis of acute diarrhea, abdominal pain, and weight loss, click here. The following table outlines the major differential diagnoses of acute diarrhea.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]
Abbreviations: GI: Gastrointestinal, CBC: Complete blood count, WBC: White blood cell, RBC: Red blood cell, Plt: Platelet, Hgb: Hemoglobin, ESR: Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, CRP: C–reactive protein, IgE: Immunoglobulin E, IgA: Immunoglobulin A, ETEC: Escherichia coli enteritis, EPEC: Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, EIEC: Enteroinvasive Escherichia coli, EHEC: Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, EAEC: Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli, Nl: Normal, ASCA: Anti saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies, ANCA: Anti–neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody, DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid, CFTR: Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, SLC10A2: Solute carrier family 10 member 2, SeHCAT: Selenium homocholic acid taurine or tauroselcholic acid, IEL: Intraepithelial lymphocytes, MRCP: Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography, ANA: Antinuclear antibodies, AMA: Anti-mitochondrial antibody, LDH: Lactate dehydrogenase, CPK: Creatine phosphokinase, PCR: Polymerase chain reaction, ELISA: Enzyme–linked immunosorbent assay, LT: Heat–labile enterotoxin, ST: Heat–stable enterotoxin, RT-PCR: Reverse–transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, CD4: Cluster of differentiation 4, HIV: Human immunodeficiency virus, RUQ: Right-upper quadrant, VIP: Vasoactive intestinal peptide, GI: Gastrointestinal, FAP: Familial adenomatous polyposis, HNPCC: Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer, MTP: Microsomal triglyceride transfer protein, Scl‑70: Anti–topoisomerase I, TSH: Thyroid-stimulating hormone, T4: Thyroxine, T3: Triiodothyronine, DTR: Deep tendon reflex, RNA: Ribonucleic acid
| Cause | Clinical manifestation | Lab findings | Extra intestinal findings | Cause/Pathogenesis | Gold standard diagnosis | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symptoms | GI signs | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | Diarrhea | Fever | Abdominal pain | Weight loss | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stool exam | CBC | Other lab findings | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Acute | Chronic | Watery | Bloody | Fatty | WBC | RBC | Ova/Parasite | Osmotic gap | Other | WBC | Hgb | Plt | ||||||||||
| Ischemic colitis | + | + | + | + | – | + | + | + |
|
+ | + | – | Nl | – | ↑ | ↓ | ↑ |
|
|
| ||
| Lactose intolerance | + | + | + | – | – | – | + | – | – | – | – | ↑ | – | Nl | Nl | Nl |
|
|
| |||
| Tropical sprue | + | + | + | – | + | + | + | + |
|
+ | – | – | Nl |
|
Nl | ↓ | Nl |
| ||||
| Cause | Duration | Diarrhea | Fever | Abdominal pain | Weight loss | GI signs | Stool exam | CBC | Other lab findings | Extra intestinal findings | Cause/Pathogenesis | Gold standard diagnosis | ||||||||||
| Acute | Chronic | Watery | Bloody | Fatty | WBC | RBC | Ova/Parasite | Osmotic gap | Other | WBC | Hgb | Plt | ||||||||||
| Pseudomembranous enterocolitis | + | – | + | ± | – | + | + | ± | + | + | – | Nl |
|
↑ | ↓ | ↓ |
|
|
| |||
| Campylobacteriosis | + | – | + | + | – | + | + | – |
|
+ | + | – | Nl |
|
↑ | Nl | Nl | Nl | ||||
| Salmonellosis | + | + | + | + | – | + | + | – | + | + | – | Nl |
|
↑ | Nl | ↑ | ||||||
| Shigellosis | + | – | + | + | – | + | + | – |
|
+ | + | – | Nl |
|
↑/↓ | ↓ | ↓ |
|
||||
| Cause | Duration | Diarrhea | Fever | Abdominal pain | Weight loss | GI signs | Stool exam | CBC | Other lab findings | Extra intestinal findings | Cause/Pathogenesis | Gold standard diagnosis | ||||||||||
| Acute | Chronic | Watery | Bloody | Fatty | WBC | RBC | Ova/Parasite | Osmotic gap | Other | WBC | Hgb | Plt | ||||||||||
| Escherichia coli enteritis | ETEC | + | – | + | – | – | + | – | – |
|
+ | – | – | Nl |
|
↑ | Nl | Nl | – | – |
|
|
| EPEC | + | + | + | + | – | + | + | + |
|
+ | + | – | Nl |
|
↑ | Nl | Nl | – | – |
| ||
| EIEC | + | – | + | + | – | + | + | – |
|
+ | + | – | Nl |
|
↑ | Nl | Nl | – | – | |||
| EHEC | + | – | + | + | – | – | + | – |
|
+ | + | – | Nl |
|
↑ | ↓ | ↓ | |||||
| EAEC | + | + | + | + | – | – | + | – |
|
+ | + | – | Nl |
|
↑ | ↓ | ↓ | – |
|
|||
| Cause | Duration | Diarrhea | Fever | Abdominal pain | Weight loss | GI signs | Stool exam | CBC | Other lab findings | Extra intestinal findings | Cause/Pathogenesis | Gold standard diagnosis | ||||||||||
| Acute | Chronic | Watery | Bloody | Fatty | WBC | RBC | Ova/Parasite | Osmotic gap | Other | WBC | Hgb | Plt | ||||||||||
| Yersinia enterocolitica | + | – | + | + | – | + | + | – |
|
+ | + | – | Nl |
|
↑ | Nl | Nl | – | ||||
| Vibrio cholera | + | – | + | – | – | – | + | – | + | – | – | Nl |
|
↑ | Nl | Nl |
|
|||||
| Aeromonas | + | + | + | + | – | + | + | – |
|
+ | + | – | Nl |
|
↑ | Nl | Nl | – |
|
| ||
| Cause | Duration | Diarrhea | Fever | Abdominal pain | Weight loss | GI signs | Stool exam | CBC | Other lab findings | Extra intestinal findings | Cause/Pathogenesis | Gold standard diagnosis | ||||||||||
| Acute | Chronic | Watery | Bloody | Fatty | WBC | RBC | Ova/Parasite | Osmotic gap | Other | WBC | Hgb | Plt | ||||||||||
| Plesiomonas | + | – | + | + | – | + | + | – |
|
+ | + | – | Nl |
|
↑ | Nl | Nl | – |
|
|||
| Mycobacterium avium complex | + | + | + | + | – | + | + | – | + | + | – | Nl | – | ↓ | ↓ | Nl |
|
|||||
| Food poisoning | + | – | + | ± | – | + | + | ± | + | ± | – | Nl |
|
↑ | Nl | Nl | – |
|
||||
| Cause | Duration | Diarrhea | Fever | Abdominal pain | Weight loss | GI signs | Stool exam | CBC | Other lab findings | Extra intestinal findings | Cause/Pathogenesis | Gold standard diagnosis | ||||||||||
| Acute | Chronic | Watery | Bloody | Fatty | WBC | RBC | Ova/Parasite | Osmotic gap | Other | WBC | Hgb | Plt | ||||||||||
| Norovirus | + | – | + | – | – | + | + | – | – | – | – | Nl |
|
↓ | Nl | Nl | – |
| ||||
| Rotavirus | + | – | + | – | – | + | – | – |
|
+ | – | – | Nl | – | Nl | Nl | Nl |
| ||||
| Echovirus | + | – | + | – | – | + | + | – | – | – | – | Nl | – | Nl | Nl | Nl | – |
| ||||
| Adenovirus | + | – | + | – | – | + | + | – | – | – | – | Nl |
|
Nl | Nl | Nl | – |
| ||||
| CMV colitis | + | + | – | + | – | ± | + | – |
|
+ | + | – | Nl |
|
↓ | Nl | Nl |
|
| |||
| Cause | Duration | Diarrhea | Fever | Abdominal pain | Weight loss | GI signs | Stool exam | CBC | Other lab findings | Extra intestinal findings | Cause/Pathogenesis | Gold standard diagnosis | ||||||||||
| Acute | Chronic | Watery | Bloody | Fatty | WBC | RBC | Ova/Parasite | Osmotic gap | Other | WBC | Hgb | Plt | ||||||||||
| Entamoeba histolytica | + | + | + | + | – | + | + | – | + | + | + | Nl | – | ↑ | Nl | Nl | – |
|
| |||
| Microsporidia | + | + | + | – | – | + | + | – | – | – | + | Nl |
|
Nl | Nl | Nl |
|
| ||||
| Isospora | + | + | + | – | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | Nl |
|
↑ | Nl | Nl |
|
|
| |||
| VIPoma | + | + | + | – | + | – | + | + |
|
– | – | – | ↓ | – | Nl | Nl | Nl |
|
|
| ||
| Cause | Duration | Diarrhea | Fever | Abdominal pain | Weight loss | GI signs | Stool exam | CBC | Other lab findings | Extra intestinal findings | Cause/Pathogenesis | Gold standard diagnosis | ||||||||||
| Acute | Chronic | Watery | Bloody | Fatty | WBC | RBC | Ova/Parasite | Osmotic gap | Other | WBC | Hgb | Plt | ||||||||||
| Medications | + | + | + | – | ± | ± | + | + | – | – | – | ↑/↓ | – | ↑ | Nl | Nl |
|
– |
| |||
| Factitious diarrhea | + | + | + | – | – | – | + | + | – | – | – | ↑/↓ | – | Nl | Nl | Nl |
| |||||
| Cause | Duration | Diarrhea | Fever | Abdominal pain | Weight loss | GI signs | Stool exam | CBC | Other lab findings | Extra intestinal findings | Cause/Pathogenesis | Gold standard diagnosis | ||||||||||
| Acute | Chronic | Watery | Bloody | Fatty | WBC | RBC | Ova/Parasite | Osmotic gap | Other | WBC | Hgb | Plt | ||||||||||
| Organophosphate poisoning | + | + | + | – | – | – | + | – | – | – | – | Nl | – | Nl | Nl | Nl |
|
|
|
| ||
| Opium withdrawal | + | + | + | – | – | – | + | – |
|
– | – | – | Nl | – | Nl | Nl | Nl |
| ||||
| Short bowel syndrome | + | + | + | – | + | – | – | + | – | – | – | Nl |
|
Nl | ↓ | ↑ |
|
|
|
| ||
| Radiation enteritis | + | + | + | + | + | – | + | + | + | + | – | Nl |
|
Nl | ↓ | Nl |
|
|
| |||