Abnormal blood tests, imaging or endoscopy findings
Abnormal blood tests, imaging or endoscopy findings does not diagnose a specific condition by itself. Duration, associated findings, age, medicines, family history and warning signs all matter.
Abnormal blood tests, imaging or endoscopy findings does not diagnose a specific condition by itself. Duration, associated findings, age, medicines, family history and warning signs all matter.
Which conditions can be associated with this symptom?
Gastro-oesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
A chronic condition in which stomach contents reflux into the oesophagus, causing heartburn, regurgitation or throat symptoms.
Open guide →Barrett’s Oesophagus
A change in the lining of the lower oesophagus associated with chronic reflux; it is not cancer but may require surveillance.
Open guide →Achalasia
A motility disorder in which the lower oesophageal sphincter fails to relax properly, causing swallowing difficulty.
Open guide →Oesophageal Motility Disorders
A group of disorders involving weak, excessive or uncoordinated oesophageal contractions.
Open guide →Oesophageal Cancer
Cancer arising from the oesophageal lining, requiring stage-specific multidisciplinary care.
Open guide →Eosinophilic Oesophagitis
A chronic immune-mediated inflammation of the oesophagus and an important cause of dysphagia and food impaction.
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Gastritis
Inflammation or injury of the stomach lining with several possible causes.
Open guide →Gastric and Duodenal Ulcer
A deeper sore in the stomach or duodenal lining, commonly related to H. pylori or certain pain medicines.
Open guide →Helicobacter pylori Infection
A treatable stomach infection linked to gastritis, ulcers and increased risk of some gastric cancers and lymphomas.
Open guide →Gastric Intestinal Metaplasia
A change of stomach lining cells toward an intestinal type; not cancer, but surveillance may be needed according to risk.
Open guide →Gastric Cancer
Cancer arising from the stomach, treated according to stage with endoscopic, surgical and oncological approaches.
Open guide →Gastric Polyps
Different types of growths from the stomach lining; management depends on histology and surrounding mucosal risk.
Open guide →Gastroparesis
Delayed gastric emptying without mechanical obstruction, causing nausea, vomiting, early fullness and nutritional problems.
Open guide →Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
Excess or altered bacteria in the small bowel that may cause bloating, diarrhoea and malabsorption.
Open guide →Coeliac Disease
An autoimmune disease in which gluten damages the small-bowel lining and requires lifelong follow-up.
Open guide →Small-Bowel Bleeding
Occult or overt bleeding suspected from the small bowel after standard endoscopy does not identify a source.
Open guide →Small-Bowel Polyps and Tumours
Uncommon benign or malignant lesions that may present with anaemia, obstruction or incidental imaging findings.
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Constipation and Defecatory Disorders
Infrequent, hard or difficult bowel movements that may reflect diet, medicines, transit or pelvic-floor disorders.
Open guide →Rectal Bleeding
A symptom with causes ranging from haemorrhoids to inflammation, polyps or cancer, requiring risk-based assessment.
Open guide →Colon Polyps
Growths from the colon lining; some adenomatous or serrated polyps can progress toward cancer.
Open guide →Colorectal Cancer
Cancer of the colon or rectum; screening and polyp removal can prevent many cases.
Open guide →Inflammatory Bowel Disease
A group of chronic immune-mediated bowel diseases including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Open guide →Ulcerative Colitis
A chronic inflammatory bowel disease beginning in the rectum and potentially extending continuously through the colon.
Open guide →Crohn’s Disease
A chronic inflammatory bowel disease that can affect any part of the digestive tract and the full bowel wall.
Open guide →Faecal Incontinence
Loss of control over gas or stool; a medical problem with identifiable causes and treatment options.
Open guide →Diverticulosis and Diverticulitis
Small pouches in the colon are diverticulosis; inflammation of a pouch is diverticulitis.
Open guide →Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
A disorder of gut-brain interaction involving abdominal pain and altered bowel habits without visible structural damage.
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Pancreatic Cancer
Cancer arising from the pancreas that requires rapid staging and multidisciplinary care.
Open guide →Pancreatic Cysts
Fluid-filled pancreatic lesions with varying risk; many are observed while selected cysts need further evaluation or treatment.
Open guide →Acute Pancreatitis
Sudden inflammation of the pancreas, commonly related to gallstones or alcohol but with several other causes.
Open guide →Chronic Pancreatitis
Long-term pancreatic damage that may cause pain, digestive enzyme insufficiency and diabetes.
Open guide →Pancreatic Pseudocyst and Walled-off Necrosis
Fluid or necrotic collections after pancreatitis; not every collection requires drainage.
Open guide →Liver Cirrhosis
Advanced chronic liver damage requiring surveillance for bleeding, fluid retention, confusion and liver cancer.
Open guide →Liver Fibrosis
Scarring caused by chronic liver injury; early treatment of the cause may slow or reverse progression.
Open guide →Focal Nodular Hyperplasia (FNH)
A usually benign vascular liver lesion often found incidentally; accurate imaging can avoid unnecessary intervention.
Open guide →Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD)
Fatty liver related to metabolic risk, where assessment focuses on inflammation and fibrosis rather than fat alone.
Open guide →Viral Hepatitis B and C
Viral infections that can cause chronic liver inflammation, fibrosis and cancer risk, with effective treatment and surveillance options.
Open guide →Liver Lesions and Masses
A broad group ranging from benign cysts or haemangiomas to primary or metastatic cancer.
Open guide →Portal Hypertension and Oesophageal Varices
Raised pressure in the portal circulation that may cause varices, splenomegaly and abdominal fluid.
Open guide →Gallstones and Bile-Duct Stones
Stones forming in the gallbladder that can cause pain, inflammation or migrate into the bile duct.
Open guide →Bile-Duct Obstruction
Failure of bile flow due to stone, stricture, tumour or injury, requiring timely assessment.
Open guide →Biliary Strictures
Narrowing of the bile duct from benign injury/inflammation or malignancy, requiring coordinated diagnosis and drainage.
Open guide →Acute Cholangitis
A potentially severe infection in an obstructed bile duct that may require urgent drainage as well as antibiotics.
Open guide →Gallstone Pancreatitis
Acute pancreatitis triggered by a gallstone obstructing the shared duct outlet.
Open guide →Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC)
A chronic cholestatic liver disease causing inflammation and multifocal bile-duct strictures, often associated with IBD.
Open guide →Hiatal Hernia
Movement of part of the stomach through the diaphragmatic hiatus; it may contribute to reflux but is not always symptomatic.
Open guide →Zenker’s Diverticulum
A pouch at the pharyngo-oesophageal junction that may cause dysphagia, regurgitation and aspiration.
Open guide →Oesophageal Stricture
Narrowing of the oesophagus from reflux, inflammation, treatment or other causes, often causing solid-food dysphagia.
Open guide →Functional Dyspepsia
A common disorder causing upper abdominal pain, burning, early satiety or post-meal fullness without an explanatory structural lesion.
Open guide →Atrophic Gastritis
Chronic loss of gastric glands, often related to H. pylori or autoimmune disease.
Open guide →Autoimmune Gastritis
Chronic immune-mediated gastritis associated with B12/iron deficiency and specific long-term surveillance considerations.
Open guide →Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumour (GIST)
A mesenchymal tumour arising from the gastrointestinal wall, most commonly in the stomach.
Open guide →Gastrointestinal Subepithelial Lesions
A heterogeneous group of lesions beneath normal mucosa, including GIST, leiomyoma, lipoma and neuroendocrine tumours.
Open guide →Microscopic Colitis
An inflammatory colonic disorder causing chronic watery diarrhoea despite a frequently normal-appearing colonoscopy.
Open guide →Chronic Diarrhoea
Diarrhoea lasting more than four weeks with a broad differential including inflammatory, malabsorptive, medication-related and functional c…
Open guide →Ischaemic Colitis
Inflammation caused by reduced blood flow to the colon, often presenting with acute abdominal pain and rectal bleeding.
Open guide →Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP)
An inherited APC-related polyposis syndrome with numerous colorectal adenomas and high colorectal cancer risk.
Open guide →Lynch Syndrome
An inherited mismatch-repair cancer predisposition syndrome increasing lifetime risk of colorectal and several other cancers.
Open guide →Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumour (pNET)
A biologically diverse group of tumours arising from pancreatic neuroendocrine cells, functioning or non-functioning.
Open guide →Autoimmune Pancreatitis
An immune-mediated, treatable form of pancreatitis that can mimic pancreatic cancer.
Open guide →Pancreatic Duct Stones and Strictures
Pancreatic duct obstruction from stones or strictures, often in chronic pancreatitis, potentially causing pain and recurrent attacks.
Open guide →Pancreas Divisum
A common congenital ductal variant that is usually asymptomatic but may be relevant in selected recurrent pancreatitis cases.
Open guide →Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency
Insufficient pancreatic digestive enzyme activity causing malabsorption, weight loss and nutritional deficiencies.
Open guide →Gallbladder Polyps
Growths from the gallbladder lining, usually benign, with management guided by size, growth and risk features.
Open guide →Acute Cholecystitis
Acute gallbladder inflammation, usually from cystic-duct obstruction by a gallstone.
Open guide →Cholangiocarcinoma
Cancer arising from the bile ducts, potentially causing jaundice, pruritus and biliary obstruction.
Open guide →Ampullary Lesions
Lesions of the ampulla where the bile and pancreatic ducts enter the duodenum, ranging from adenoma to cancer.
Open guide →Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC)
A chronic autoimmune cholestatic liver disease affecting small intrahepatic bile ducts.
Open guide →Autoimmune Hepatitis
Chronic immune-mediated liver inflammation that can progress to fibrosis and cirrhosis if untreated.
Open guide →Haemochromatosis
A disorder of iron overload that can affect the liver, pancreas, heart and joints.
Open guide →Wilson Disease
A rare inherited copper metabolism disorder causing copper accumulation in the liver, brain and other tissues.
Open guide →Drug-induced Liver Injury (DILI)
Liver injury potentially related to prescribed, over-the-counter or herbal products and requiring exclusion of other causes.
Open guide →Alcohol-related Liver Disease
A spectrum from steatosis to hepatitis, fibrosis and cirrhosis related to harmful alcohol exposure.
Open guide →Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)
Primary liver cancer often arising in chronic liver disease or cirrhosis, where surveillance can support earlier diagnosis.
Open guide →How is it evaluated?
How long has it been present, is it worsening, and how much does it affect daily life?
Weight loss, bleeding, fever, jaundice, vomiting or night symptoms can change urgency.
Not everyone needs the same tests; testing should answer the clinical question.
Once clarified, treatment, follow-up and re-evaluation triggers should be explicit.