Maroon-colored stool is most consistent with which type of GI bleeding?

• A. Peritonitis
• B. Upper GI bleeding
• C. Lower GI bleeding
• D. Renal calculi

Answer: (B)

Stool color from a GI bleed tells you about where the blood is coming from and how fast it’s moving through the gut. Melena, the classic black, tarry stool, happens when blood sits in the GI tract long enough to be digested—usually from an upper GI source with slower transit. If the bleed is brisk, blood can pass through the tract before it has time to turn black, and you can see maroon-colored stool. That brisk passage makes maroon stool most consistent with an upper GI bleed. The other options don’t fit the pattern: peritonitis isn’t about GI blood in stool at all, renal stones cause flank pain and hematuria but not stool color changes, and lower GI bleeds typically produce bright red or sometimes maroon stool but the common teaching here emphasizes brisk upper GI bleeding presenting with a non-tarry, darker-red/maroon stool.