{"title":"Bloody Stools in the Emergency Room: Cefdinir-Induced Red Stools in a 7-Month-Old Male.","authors":"Ali Shammout, Philip Pazderka","doi":"10.7759/cureus.68887","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This case report presents a 7-month-old male who was admitted to the emergency room with red-colored stools, initially raising concerns for serious gastrointestinal issues. The child, who had a history of milk protein allergy and eczema, had recently been prescribed cefdinir for an ear infection and was also consuming a hydrolyzed formula containing iron. Despite initial findings of elevated white blood cell count, mild anemia, and hyperkalemia, a stool heme-occult test was negative. The negative heme-occult lead to the consideration of cefdinir-induced stool discoloration as a possible diagnosis, a benign side effect that occurs in the presence of iron supplementation. Following the discontinuation of cefdinir, the patient's symptoms resolved completely on follow up with his pediatrician. A rare occurrence, cefdinir-induced red stool discoloration must be considered in cases of benign appearing infants with \"bloody\" stools.</p>","PeriodicalId":93960,"journal":{"name":"Cureus","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11392395/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Cureus","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.68887","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/9/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This case report presents a 7-month-old male who was admitted to the emergency room with red-colored stools, initially raising concerns for serious gastrointestinal issues. The child, who had a history of milk protein allergy and eczema, had recently been prescribed cefdinir for an ear infection and was also consuming a hydrolyzed formula containing iron. Despite initial findings of elevated white blood cell count, mild anemia, and hyperkalemia, a stool heme-occult test was negative. The negative heme-occult lead to the consideration of cefdinir-induced stool discoloration as a possible diagnosis, a benign side effect that occurs in the presence of iron supplementation. Following the discontinuation of cefdinir, the patient's symptoms resolved completely on follow up with his pediatrician. A rare occurrence, cefdinir-induced red stool discoloration must be considered in cases of benign appearing infants with "bloody" stools.