More than one disease can lead to rectal bleeding as a main symptom but probably the most prominent nowadays is cervical cancer. Rectal bleeding means bleeding from the anus or rectum, or, simply put, blood in your stool. In any case, this is a very serious symptom and needs prompt professional medical advice. You don't even have to feel any pain in order to start worrying.

Cancer of the cervix, a very common kind of cancer in women, is a type of cancer in which malignant cells develop and spread starting from the tissues of the cervix. Thanks to Pap screenings becoming a regular test for most women, the cervical cancer incidence has dropped substantially in the last years. However, that makes the remaining cases even the more tragic. If not detected early, when the condition is called dysplasia and is 100% curable, it becomes very hard to treat even through very aggressive treatment.



The ideal way to go about the problem is having the Pap smears on a regular basis. If rectal bleeding is the first sign you have that you might have developed cervical cancer, you are most likely to be in a very advanced stage with little to no chances of being cured.

The way in which rectal bleeding manifests itself in cervical cancer is through blood in the stool. Blood in the stool can be both a sign of rectal bleeding as well as of gastrointestinal bleeding. Certain conditions may even lead to bloody diarrhea. Many other things can cause this symptom but if you haven't recently undergone a Pap test you should schedule for one, just to be sure.

Alongside the Pap screening, a good rectal and colon examination with proctoscopy and or colonoscopy would be called for. The other causes beside cervical cancer could be any that lead rectal bleeding in anybody, disregarding individual conditions: hemorrhoids, polyps, colon cancer, colitis, ulcers, and even recurrent cervical cancer. Many of these alternatives are sure to be missed by a barium enema or barium swallow. It is very important that you consult a doctor before deciding on the test you want to do and make sure it is safe for you to take those particular tests.



Rectal bleeding can also occur during treatment. Radiation-induced rectal bleeding is such a treatment but optimal management of this affection can be achieved in patients with cancer of the cervix. In a study where a group of patients were monitorized while they underwent external beam radiotherapy with high-dose-rate brachytherapy grade 2 and 3 rectal bleeding occurred in 8.5% of patients. Immediate treatment with a combination of sucralfate enema and coagulation was effective in controlling Grade 1 and 2 rectal bleeding without the development of fistula or stricture. Ask you doctor more about this and just make sure you've considered all options and that immediate appropriate intervention in always on stand by.