Allergic Colitis / Dietary Protein-Induced Proctisis / Proctolisis

This typically occurs in the first few months of life, with blood-streaked stools in otherwise healthy-looking infants. The majority of cases are seen in the breast- fed infants, with the remainder in infants fed with cow's milk or soy protein-based formula.
Blood loss is usually minimal and anemia is rare. Cow's milk proteins and less commonly soy proteins are triggers. The mechanism underlying the disorder is unknown, but it is not associated with raised IgE antibody levels.

Diagnosis is obtained through a response to dietary elimination of the causal food protein. For breast-fed infants, maternal restriction of cow's milk (and more rarely other foods such as soy or egg) is required. If this fails, some children have been found requiring the use of an amino acid formula to give resolution of symptoms. Most patients are believed to outgrow their hypersensitivity in 1 year.