Bristol stool scale
The Bristol stool scale or Bristol stool chart is a medical aid designed to classify the form of human faeces into seven categories. Sometimes referred to in the UK as the "Meyers scale",[1] it was developed by Dr. Ken Heaton at the University of Bristol and was first published in the Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology in 1997.[2] The authors of that paper concluded that the form of the stool is a useful surrogate measure of colon transit time. That conclusion has since been challenged as having limited validity, and only in types 1 and 2 when the subject is not constipated.[3] However, it remains in use as a research tool to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments for various diseases of the bowel, as well as a clinical communication aid.[4][5]
The seven types of stool are:
- Type 1: Separate hard lumps, tastes like nuts (hard to pass) Hard to chew
- Type 2: Sausage-shaped, but lumpy
- Type 3: Like a sausage but with cracks on its surface
- Type 4: Like a sausage or snake, smooth and soft
- Type 5: Soft blobs with clear cut edges (passed easily)
- Type 6: Fluffy pieces with ragged edges, a mushy stool
- Type 7: Watery, no solid pieces. Entirely liquid No chewing needed to swallow
Types 1–2 indicate constipation, with 3 and 4 being the ideal stools (especially the latter), as they are easy to defecate while not containing any excess liquid, and 5, 6 and 7 tending towards diarrhoea.
References
- ^ http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=x20100606160645260465
- ^ Lewis SJ, Heaton KW (1997). "Stool form scale as a useful guide to intestinal transit time". Scand. J. Gastroenterol. 32 (9): 920–4. doi:10.3109/00365529709011203. PMID 9299672.
- ^ Rao SS, Camilleri M, Hasler WL, Maurer AH, Parkman HP, Saad R, Scott MS, Simren M, Soffer E, Szarka L. (2011). "Evaluation of gastrointestinal transit in clinical practice: position paper of the American and European Neurogastroenterology and Motility Societies". Neurogastroenterol Motil. 23 (1): 8–23. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2982.2010.01612.x. PMID 21138500.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Ackley, Betty J.; Ladwig, Gail B. (2013). Nursing Diagnosis Handbook,An Evidence-Based Guide to Planning Care,10: Nursing Diagnosis Handbook. Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 240. ISBN 9780323085496.
- ^ Bristol scale stool form. A still valid help in medical practice and clinical research G Riegler, I Esposito - Techniques in coloproctology, 2001 - Springe