 | This article needs more reliable medical references for verification or relies too heavily on primary sources. (November 2021) |  |
| Fecal occult blood | |
|---|---|
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| Cards and bottle used for the Hemoccult test, a type of stool guaiac test | |
| Specialty | Gastroenterology, general surgery |
Fecal occult blood (FOB) refers to blood in the feces that is not visibly apparent (unlike other types of blood in stool such as melena or hematochezia). A fecal occult blood test (FOBT) checks for hidden (occult) blood in the stool (feces).[1]
The American College of Gastroenterology has recommended the abandoning of gFOBT testing as a colorectal cancer screening tool, in favor of the fecal immunochemical test (FIT).[2] The newer and recommended tests look for globin, DNA, or other blood factors including transferrin, while conventional stool guaiac tests look for heme.
- ^ Beg M, Singh M, Saraswat MK, Rewari BB (2002). "Occult Gastrointestinal Bleeding: Detection, Interpretation, and Evaluation" (PDF). JIACM. 3 (2): 153–58. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2010-11-22.
- ^ Rex DK, Johnson DA, Anderson JC, Schoenfeld PS, Burke CA, Inadomi JM (March 2009). "American College of Gastroenterology guidelines for colorectal cancer screening 2009 [corrected]". The American Journal of Gastroenterology. 104 (3): 739–750. doi:10.1038/ajg.2009.104. PMID 19240699. S2CID 295873.