Faecal Occult Blood Test Australia



Other tests look for globin dna or other blood factors including transferrin while conventional stool guaiac tests look for heme.

Faecal occult blood test australia. If the test finds blood in your poo it doesn t always mean you have bowel cancer. Read more about understanding your test results. A fecal occult blood test is done primarily to detect colon cancer in people without intestinal symptoms.

After you have a bowel movement you use the sampling stick to collect a small amount of stool that has been deposited on the floating paper. These are analysed at a pathology laboratory and if blood is detected further tests may be required. Cancers of the colon are common and frequently produce fecal occult blood long before they cause other symptoms such as abdominal pain rectal bleeding or changes in bowel habits in addition some precursors of colon cancer specifically some types of colon polyps also may bleed slowly.

These tiny amounts of blood are not noticeable just by looking. Bowel or colorectal cancer causes the second highest number of cancer deaths in australia after lung cancer. 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.

The bowel screening test is called an immunochemical faecal occult blood test ifobt. Fecal occult blood test kit. The test should be performed in patients without symptoms.

Patients with symptoms of colon cancer should have more definitive investigations such as colonoscopy. A faecal occult blood test fobt can detect minimal amounts of blood in your bowel motions. First you place the sheet of special paper on top of the water in the toilet bowl.

Faecal occult blood collection special requirements for a complete investigation this test ideally requires three separate faeces specimens collected on three separate days. Cancer council australia recommends that australians aged 50 74 complete a faecal occult blood test fobt every two years. It can detect these tiny amounts of blood in your poo.

This simple fecal occult blood test kit may be used at home. The primary type of fobt in australia is immunochemical or ifobt.