Stools - pale or clay colored

Disease	Injury	Nutrition	Poison

Special Topic	Surgery	Symptoms	Test

Lower digestive anatomy

Overview

Treatment

Stools - pale or clay colored

Definition:

Stools that are clay, pale, or putty colored.

Alternative Names:

Acholic stools

Considerations:

Jaundiced (yellow) skin often accompanies clay colored stools.

Bile salts in the stool excreted by the liver give it a normal brown color. Obstruction to bile flow out of the liver (you may see the word "cholestasis"), or liver infections like viral hepatitis (A, B, C, etc.), may produce clay colored stools.

Common Causes:

Possible causes for clay colored stool result from problems in the biliary system (the drainage system of the gallbladder, liver, and pancreas):

Cancer or benign tumors
Strictures (narrowings)
Congenital anatomic problems (present at birth)
Gallstones
Cysts
Medications
Sclerosing cholangitis
Biliary cirrhosis
Protein or infectious infiltration
Alcoholic hepatitis
Viral hepatitis (A,B,C, etc.)

The underlying cause needs to be investigated.

Review Date: 1/21/2002
Reviewed By: Jenifer K. Lehrer, M.D., Department of Gastroenterology, Graduate Hospital, Philadelphia, PA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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