ABSTRACT
A 27-year-old man presented to the emergency department complaining of abdominal pain and diarrhoea. The abdominal pain was cramping in nature and was relieved by opening his bowels. His stools were watery brown with small amounts of fresh blood mixed in. He was passing stool up to 20 times per day and was waking overnight to open his bowels. His past medical history included ulcerative colitis, which had been diagnosed 9 months earlier. He was not currently taking any regular medications. He worked as a solicitor, drank 20 units of alcohol per week and had never smoked.
