Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Treatment and Research

When to Call Your Doctor

It is useful to separate telephone calls to your physician into three categories:

• ROUTINE
• URGENT
• EMERGENCY
  
   

Routine calls:

• Obtain results of blood and laboratory tests
• Report changes in symptoms

Urgent Calls:

• Sudden appearance of new symptoms
• Ex. A rash may indicate an allergic reaction to medication
• Ex. New symptoms such as swelling of joints, persistent fevers, appearance of a small amount of blood in your stool
• When you call, be prepared to be as specific as possible with the office staff. You have the right to ask when you can expect a call back.

Emergency Calls:

An emergency call is justified by an acute, dramatic change in your illness. These changes include:

• A sudden high fever which might be accompanied by shaking chills
• A sudden weight loss of over five pounds in a few days
• The onset of significant or new rectal bleeding
• Any severe abdominal pain that persists for longer than an hour
• Persistent vomiting accompanied by cessation of bowel movements
• A drastic change in bowel movements without passing gas

It is essential that you convey the emergent nature of your call to the GI office staff. Your doctor should speak to you at once if he/she is there or by return phone call.