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- epidemic gangrenous p. a generally fatal disease affecting chiefly children in the tropics, characterized by gangrenous ulceration of the rectum and anus, accompanied by frequent watery stools and tenesmus. SYN: bicho, caribi, Indian sickness.
- idiopathic p. probably a variant of ulcerative colitis involving the rectum; some cases progress to involve the remainder of the colon as well. SYN: chronic ulcerative p..
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proc·ti·tis präk-'tīt-əs n inflammation of the anus and rectum
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n.
inflammation of the rectum. Symptoms are ineffectual straining to empty the bowels (tenesmus), diarrhoea, and often bleeding. Proctitis is invariably present in ulcerative colitis and sometimes in Crohn's disease, but may occur independently (idiopathic proctitis). Rarer causes include damage by irradiation (for example in radiation therapy for cervical cancer), by lymphogranuloma venereum, or after a colostomy has rendered the rectum nonfunctional (disuse proctitis).
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proc·ti·tis (prok-tiґtis) [proct- + -itis] inflammation of the rectum.Medical dictionary. 2011.