BMJ  2006;332 (10 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7554.0-c

What colour is bilious vomit?

To recognise intestinal obstruction, it is more informative to ask parents about the colour of their newborn's vomit rather than whether it contains bile, say Walker and colleagues on page 1363. They carried out a questionnaire study to identify the colour that parents, general practitioners, nurses, and postnatal midwives thought represented bile and found no clear consensus. Of the 41 mothers of babies and infants questioned 23 did not know that green indicated bilious vomit, nor did 12 of 47 general practitioners. This may result in avoidable delays in surgical referral, say the authors.

Credit: IAN HOOTON/MBPL

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Relevant Article

Colour of bile vomiting in intestinal obstruction in the newborn: questionnaire study

Gregor M Walker, Andrew Neilson, David Young, and Peter A M Raine
BMJ 2006 332: 1363. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]