Fecal occult blood testing. Guidelines for follow-up after positive findings

Fecal occult blood testing should be performed under optimal conditions to minimize false-positive test results. Obvious bleeding from the rectum or other sources during the test period should be investigated and testing should be postponed. When a fecal occult blood test is positive, colonoscopy is recommended as the definitive method of diagnosis and often of treatment. When a complete colonoscopy cannot be performed, sigmoidoscopy with air-contrast barium enema is the next best alternative for direct visualization of the distal bowel and indirect investigation of the proximal colon.

Published by Postgraduate medicine, 1991. The guideline itself is at the source linked here.

doi.org/10.1080/00325481.1991.11701044