A patient with abdominal pain shows you black and loosely formed stool in the toilet. You would advise the hospital that the patient has:

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Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Black, tarry stools are indicative of melenic stool, which is caused by digested blood in the stool. This could suggest gastrointestinal bleeding, which is a serious medical condition that requires hospital evaluation. Hematemesis is vomiting blood, bile-like stool would be a light brown or green stool with a texture similar to bile, and hematochezia is bright red blood in the stool.

A Patient with Abdominal Pain Shows You Black and Loosely