gastrointestinal disorders
Proctitis
Diagnosis of Proctitis
Proctoscopy or sigmoidoscopy Tests for sexually transmitted infections andC. difficile Diagnosis of proctitis requires proctoscopy or sigmoidoscopy, which may reveal an inflamed rectal mucosa. Small discrete ulcers and vesicles suggest herpes infection. Rectal swabs should be tested forNeisseria gonorrhoeaeandChlamydiaspecies (by culture or nucleic acid amplification test, such as PCR), enteric pathogens (by culture), and viral pathogens (by culture or immunoassay). Diagnosis and stool tests for Colonoscopy may be valuable in some patients to rule out inflammatory bowel disease. 