[Diarrhea, rectorrhagia and colonic ulceration following the ingestion of NSAIDs]

The lower digestive tract, in contrast to the gastroduodenal tract, is infrequently affected by non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID), and rarely referred to in medical literature. We report the case of a 40-year-old man who presented with bloody diarrhea following treatment with NSAID. The fiber gastroscopy was normal. The fiber colonoscopy showed elongated aphthous ulcers with fibrin in the sigmoid colon. Others studies were normal. After withdrawal of NSAID, the patient returned to normal, as did the fiber colonoscopy. The treatment with NSAID has been linked with ulcerative lesions in the lower digestive tract, perforation, bloody lesions, perforation of diverticuli, reactivation of quiescent colitis and stenosis. In spite of this, doubts persist about the frequency of presentation, high risk doses and its pathophysiological mechanism, which probably involves blocking the cyclooxigenase system and the formation of the leukotrienes and free oxygen radicals. Taking into consideration the above factors, more care should be taken in investigating colonic involvement in patients who present with gastrointestinal bleeding following treatment with NSAID.