History of Presenting Complaint

The important features in the history of presenting complaint are;

• Change in bowel habit, diarrhoea or constipation or alternanting
• Rectal bleeding; don't ascribe rectal bleeding to haemmoroids until you have ruled out cancer
• Loss in appetite
• Weight loss; suspect disseminstated metastatic disease
• Continuous abdominal pain; suspect locally advanced tumour
• Symptoms of obstruction, colicky pain, vomiting, constipation and abdominal distension; suspect obstructing tumour
• Tenesemus, the sensation that evacuation has not fully emptied the rectum; suspect a rectal tumour