Diagnosis
Balantidiasis is an uncommon infection. Infected patients present with diarrhea, bloody stool, or abdominal pain or cramping (See Clinical Presentation). Balantidiasis should be considered if the suspected patient/victim works closely with pigs or other livestock, lives in or has recently traveled to a region with poor water sanitation, or has had contact with infected persons. Transmission through anal intercourse is also a remote possibility.
Balantidiasis is diagnosed by microscopic examination of a patient’s feces. A stool sample is collected and a wet mount is prepared. Cysts or trophozoites can be detected in the feces. Trophozoites can undergo encystation outside the body to form cysts. Balantidium coli is passed/released sporadically/periodically; therefore, stool samples should be collected frequently and examined immediately in order to make a definitive diagnosis.
Trophozoites can also be detected in tissue. In order to collect a tissue specimen from the large intestine, a flexible sigmoidoscopy procedure is used. A thin, hollow is used to visually inspect the last sections of the large intestine: the sigmoid colon and the rectum. A physician can look for bleeding, ulcers, and inflammation in order to diagnose the cause of diarrhea and other GI complaints, and can take a tissue biopsy for
To take a tissue sample from the large intestine, a procedure called a sigmoidoscopy is performed. During a sigmoidoscopy, a thin, flexible instrument is used to visually examine the intestinal lining and obtain small tissue specimens.
the process of using a long hollow tubular instrument passed through the anus for inspection, diagnosis, treatment, and photography especially of the sigmoid flexure
Flexible sigmoidoscopy (SIG-moy-DAH-skuh-pee) enables the physician to look at the inside of the large intestine from the rectum through the last part of the colon, called the sigmoid or descending colon. Physicians may use the procedure to find the cause of diarrhea, abdominal pain, or constipation. They also use it to look for early signs of cancer in the descending colon and rectum. With flexible sigmoidoscopy, the physician can see bleeding, inflammation, abnormal growths, and ulcers in the descending colon and rectum. Flexible sigmoidoscopy is not sufficient to detect polyps or cancer in the ascending or transverse colon (two-thirds of the colon).
For the procedure, you will lie on your left side on the examining table. The physician will insert a short, flexible, lighted tube into your rectum and slowly guide it into your colon. The tube is called a sigmoidoscope (sig-MOY-duh-skope). The scope transmits an image of the inside of the rectum and colon, so the physician can carefully examine the lining of these organs. The scope also blows air into these organs, which inflates them and helps the physician see better.
If anything unusual is in your rectum or colon, like a polyp or inflamed tissue, the physician can remove a piece of it using instruments inserted into the scope. The physician will send that piece of tissue (biopsy) to the lab for testing