Does scant hematochezia necessitate the performance of total colonoscopy?
Flexible sigmoidoscopy appears to be a sufficient work-up for young patients who have observed trace amounts of bright red blood on the surface of their stool.
The success of tocolysis and thus delivery remote from an episode of preterm labor is associated with discriminatory amniotic fluid IL-6 and IL-8 levels of less than 20 and less than 15 ng/mL, respectively. If the immunologic response that causes the release of IL-6 and IL-8 has not occurred, the likelihood of successful tocolysis is extremely high. However, if both IL-6 and IL-8 are elevated, tocolysis is likely to fail and delivery may occur within 48 hours.