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Stools that are pale, clay, or putty-colored may be due to problems in the biliary system (the drainage system of the gallbladder, liver, and pancreas).

The liver releases bile salts into the stool, giving it a normal brown color. You may have clay-colored stools if you have a liver infection that reduces bile production, or if the flow of bile out of the liver is blocked.

Yellow skin (jaundice) often occurs with clay-colored stools due to the buildup of bile chemicals in the body.

Possible causes for clay-colored stools include:

• Alcoholic hepatitis
• Biliary cirrhosis
• Cancer or noncancerous (benign) tumors of the liver or biliary system
• Cysts of the bile ducts
• Gallstones
• Medications
• Narrowings (strictures) of the bile ducts
• Sclerosing cholangitis
• Structural problems in the biliary system that are present from birth (congenital)
• Viral hepatitis

There may be other causes not listed here.

Call your health care provider if your stools are not the normal brown color.

The doctor will perform a physical exam and ask questions about your medical history and symptoms. Questions may include:

• When did the symptom first occur?
• Is every stool discolored?
• What medicines do you take?
• What other symptoms do you have?

Tests that may be done include:

• Blood tests, including tests to check liver function and for viruses that might affect the liver
• Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)
• Imaging studies such as an abdominal ultrasound or CT scan

Berk P, Korenblat K. Approach to the patient with jaundice or abnormal liver test results. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Cecil Medicine. 24th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier;2011:chap 149.

Lidofsky SD. Jaundice. In: Feldman M, Friedman LS, Sleisenger MH, eds. Sleisenger & Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2010:chap 20.