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It is important for primary care physicians to take fecal incontinence seriously and not dismiss it as a normal part of aging. Elderly patients may be reluctant to admit fecal incontinence, so clinicians need to ask about it. Two of the most common causes are fecal impaction (especially in nursing home patients) and rectosphincter dysfunction in people with diabetes.
PURPOSE: This study was designed to investigate rectal reservoir function and anal pressures in patients with fecal incontinence using anorectal manovolumetry and to evaluate the reproducibility of the investigation. METHODS: Forty-eight patients with fecal incontinence were investigated with respect to anal pressures and rectal volume changes and sensibility in response to stepwise increased rectal pressures (5-60 cm of H2O). Patients with known rectal wall diseases were excluded. Results were compared with those of 25 control subjects investigated in a similar manner. In ten individuals in the latter group, investigation was repeated after 5 minutes and 24 hours. RESULTS: Resting pressure (RP), squeezing pressure (SP), and the difference between SP and RP was lower in patients than in controls (P < 0.0001). There was no significant difference between patients and controls concerning rectal sensibility or compliance (P > 0.05), but there was a correlation between RP and rectal compliance (r = 0.25; P < 0.05) and between SP and rectal compliance (r = 0.30; P < 0.01). There was good reproducibility of RP and SP after five minutes (r = 0.88-0.92; P < 0.001). The day-to-day variation was larger for RP (r = 0.52; P > 0.05) compared with SP (r = 0.89; P < 0.001). Rectal compliance at 40 cm of H2O was reproducible after 5 minutes (r = 0.98; P < 0.0001) and 24 hours (r = 0.88; P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the primary defect in incontinent patients is a sphincter dysfunction. Any reduction in rectal compliance is likely to be a secondary phenomenon.
UNLABELLED: The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical, manometric and endosonographic results of overlapping sphincteroplasty for traumatic sphincter defects documented by endosonography. PATIENTS AND METHOD: We performed an overlap repair in 10 women aged 34 to 68 with fecal incontinence due to sphincter defects after obstetric (n = 8) or iatrogenic (n = 2) trauma. The fecal incontinence was graded using the Miller Score (0-18 points). Manometry and endosonography were done pre- and postoperatively. The mean follow-up time was 17 months (6-25 m.). RESULTS: Perioperative morbidity was low: one temporary colostomy was necessary due to an anal fistula. Eight out of 10 patients were satisfied with the result. The incontinence grade fell from an average of 14 points (8-17 points) preoperatively to 5 (0-12 points) postoperatively. The mean resting pressure increased from 36 to 41 mmHg, the voluntary contraction from 48 to 59 mmHg. Endosonography allowed the precise localization of the defect before operation and the sphincteroplasty could be visualized after operation in all the patients. CONCLUSIONS: The overlapping sphincteroplasty improved fecal incontinence successfully in 9 of 10 patients with posttraumatic sphincter defects. Endosonography is very useful in localization of the sphincter defect and documentation of the performed sphincteroplasty.
OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to compare 2 laxatives, namely, polyethylene glycol 3350 without electrolytes and milk of magnesia, evaluating the efficacy, safety, acceptance, and 1-year outcomes. METHODS: Seventy-nine children with chronic constipation and fecal incontinence were assigned randomly to receive polyethylene glycol or milk of magnesia and were treated for 12 months in tertiary care pediatric clinics. Children were counted as improved or recovered depending on resolution of constipation, fecal incontinence, and abdominal pain after 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. An intent-to-treat analysis was used. Safety was assessed with evaluation of clinical adverse effects and blood tests. RESULTS: Thirty-nine children were assigned randomly to receive polyethylene glycol and 40 to receive milk of magnesia. At each follow-up visit, significant improvement was seen in both groups, with significant increases in the frequency of bowel movements, decreases in the frequency of incontinence episodes, and resolution of abdominal pain. Compliance rates were 95% for polyethylene glycol and 65% for milk of magnesia. After 12 months, 62% of polyethylene glycol-treated children and 43% of milk of magnesia-treated children exhibited improvement, and 33% of polyethylene glycol-treated children and 23% of milk of magnesia-treated children had recovered. Polyethylene glycol and milk of magnesia did not cause clinically significant side effects or blood abnormalities, except that 1 child was allergic to polyethylene glycol. CONCLUSIONS: In this randomized study, polyethylene glycol and milk of magnesia were equally effective in the long-term treatment of children with constipation and fecal incontinence. Polyethylene glycol was safe for the long-term treatment of these children and was better accepted by the children than milk of magnesia.
Twenty-one subjects suffering daily from fecal incontinence were treated with biofeedback training as a rehabilitative trial. Fifteen of these patients had incontinence following surgical interventions; the other six had senile incontinence. A device was employed to record the pressure existing at the level of the anal canal and to stimulate the rectal ampulla to control the performance of the external anal sphincter and the sensibility of the rectum. Of the 31 treated patients, eighteen (86%) presented good results with satisfactory recovery of anal incontinence, and three subjects (14%) showed unsatisfactory results (more than one episode of incontinence monthly). Although both groups of patients showed improvement in external anal sphincter contraction, the sensibility of the rectum to endoluminal distention improved more in good responders. The employment of biofeedback training to obtain improvement of the threshold of rectal sensibility (minimal volume of endoluminal distention to produce the sensation of imminent defecation and external anal sphincter contraction) has proved useful in the rehabilitation of incontinent patients.
INTRODUCTION: Sacral nerve modulation has been demonstrated to be a new efficacious treatment for fecal incontinence. The effectiveness of the procedure is preliminarily tested by means of a peripheral nerve evaluation. Integrity of the sacral neural pathway is generally believed to be a necessary condition for a good response, but no data are available to confirm whether electrophysiologic anal tests are predictive of the clinical outcome of the peripheral nerve evaluation. METHODS: Eighty-two incontinent patients underwent the peripheral nerve evaluation after full evaluation of the anorectal physiology. Univariate analysis was performed, and the positive predictive value, sensitivity, and specificity were calculated for each of the tests. RESULTS: Forty-six patients had successful results to the peripheral nerve evaluation and were subjected to permanent implant of a sacral electrostimulator. Anal sphincter electromyography had been performed in 60 patients, whereas pudendal nerve terminal motor latency had been assessed in 68 and evoked sacral potentials in 29 patients. Anal electromyography was statistically related to the outcome of the peripheral nerve evaluation ( P = 0.0004) with a positive predictive value of 81 percent, a sensitivity of 44 percent, and a specificity of 81 percent. Pudendal nerve terminal motor latency on the right side did not correlate with the outcome, but left pudendal nerve terminal motor latency was weakly correlated ( P = 0.02), although both tests had a low positive predicting value and sensitivity vs. good specificity. Evoked sacral potentials did not correlate with the outcome and had a low positive predictive value, sensitivity, and specificity. CONCLUSIONS: Simple anal sphincter electromyography can predict the outcome of the peripheral nerve evaluation with good positive predictive value and specificity in patients with fecal incontinence. Other, more expensive, electrophysiologic anal tests do not add further prognostic information.
In a previous article we described a nursing assessment for adults with fecal incontinence. This article outlines in detail the program of care, tailored to an individual's assessed needs, that is available in the nurse-led biofeedback service for fecal incontinence at St Mark's Hospital in England. A recent evaluation of this program found that two thirds of patients reported improved fecal continence after receiving care from this service.
The feasibility of skeletal muscle transposition and electrical stimulation (dynamic myoplasty) for treatment of fecal incontinence has been shown in adults. It might be attractive to use such a technique in pediatric patients. Therefore, the influence of growth on skeletal muscle transposition and stimulation was studied in five puppies. In each dog, two neosphincters were constructed around a Thiry-Vella loop by using a dissected sartorius muscle with the neurovascular supply intact. In each of these five puppies, one of these muscles was electrically stimulated during a mean of 19 weeks (one puppy died during the first postoperative week). Muscle biopsies showed an increase in the percentage type I, fatigue-resistant muscle fibers from 61 to 94 in electrically stimulated sartorius neosphincters, but also an increase from 57 to 67 percent in transposed nonstimulated sartorius muscles. The diameter of these type I fibers during growth increased 36% in eletrically stimulated sartorius neosphincters and 55% in nonstimulated sphincters. Function of the neosphincters was tested with the inflow of saline in the Thiry-Vella loop. It was shown that the stimulated neosphincters were capable of inhibiting flow (which corresponded to manometric pressure registrations), but the nonstimulated sphincters were unable to inhibit flow. The experiments were complicated by infection and necrosis around the implanted stimulators in four puppies (which required reimplantation). We conclude that a dynamic myoplasty for fecal incontinence is feasible in growing puppies but that the technique is unacceptable during rapid growth because of the risks of infection and dislocation of the implanted device.
PURPOSE: To prospectively compare external phased-array magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with endoanal MR imaging in depicting external and internal anal sphincter defects in patients with fecal incontinence and to prospectively evaluate observer reproducibility in the detection of external and internal anal sphincter defects with both MR imaging techniques. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical ethics committees of both participating hospitals approved the study, and informed consent was obtained. Thirty patients (23 women, seven men; mean age, 58.7 years; range, 37-78 years) with fecal incontinence underwent MR imaging with both endoanal and external phased-array coils. MR images were evaluated by three radiologists with different levels of experience for external and internal anal sphincter defects. Measures of inter- and intraobserver agreement of both MR imaging techniques and of differences between both imaging techniques were calculated. RESULTS: Both MR imaging techniques did not significantly differ in the depiction of external (P > .99) and internal (P > .99) anal sphincter defects. The techniques corresponded in 25 (83%) of 30 patients for the depiction of external anal sphincter defects and in 28 (93%) of 30 patients for the depiction of internal anal sphincter defects. Interobserver agreement was moderate to good for endoanal MR imaging and poor to fair for external phased-array MR imaging. Intraobserver agreement ranged from fair to very good for both imaging techniques. CONCLUSION: External phased-array MR imaging is comparable to endoanal MR imaging in the depiction of clinically relevant anal sphincter defects. Because of the weak interobserver agreement, both MR imaging techniques can be recommended in the diagnostic work-up of fecal incontinence only if sufficient experience is available.
A significant percentage of children who are fecally incontinent are so from improper operation or failure to recognize a surgically correctable problem. Over the past five years, we have managed ten children who had operations for anorectal problems and two with anterior anus. Seven were seen after poorly positioned pull-through procedures for imperforate anus and had anal repositioning, four successfully. Gracilis sling was successful in two of the other three. In two children overflow after a Duhamel operation for Hirschsprung's disease was corrected by division of a persistent anorectal septum. The third child with a disrupted Duhamel procedure was cured by anolevatorplasty. In two children an anterior ectopic anus was made continent by posterior anoplasty. Primary and secondary deviations from proper anatomy of the anorectal region will result in incontinence, which may be recognized by physical examination and defecograms. Proper operation usually produces acceptable continence.
A total of 247 patients with urinary and fecal incontinence were studied. Males suffered from urinary incontinence thrice as frequently as females. Only about a half of patients saw pediatric psychiatrists when aged 7 to 10 years that was indicative of insufficient medical assistance to these patients and lack of public information on the nature of infantile urinary and fecal incontinence. Dysontogenetic urinary incontinence was detected in 3/4 of the population. Deep sleep disturbance caused the disorder in 87.6% of cases. Pronounced psychic infantilism was evident in 1/3 of male patients with urinary incontinence.
Four hundred and thirty seven consecutive patients with problems of motility were referred to, and examined at our third-level unit from 1987 to 1993. Forty seven (mean age 36.3 +/- 3.8, range 5-76 years; 25 females) fulfilled the established criteria for fecal incontinence. The mean period of total incontinence was 55.4 +/- 7.6 months (range 6 months to 21 years), with episodes of incontinence of 2.4 +/- 0.2 (range 1-7 a day). All patients were asked to complete a questionnaire in order to validate the incontinence diagnosis. A complete clinical history was obtained from each patient, and they were given laboratory tests, barium enema, recto-sigmoidoscopy, rectal sensitivity tests, recto-anal manometry, and biofeedback without electronic equipment. Twenty one normal subjects were used as a control group. Patients with fecal incontinence showed less rectal sensitivity (P < 0.01). The spontaneous recto-anal inhibitory reflex was not present in all forty seven. All the patients that completed their treatment were completely cured in a period of 4 +/- 0.5 months (range 16 days to 15 months), and follow-up continued for one to eight years. To sum up, this new therapeutic approach is beneficial independent of age, duration and cause of incontinence. The treatment is patient-friendly and economical. Doctors have changed their attitudes, and the quality of life of the patient has improved dramatically, thus providing clinical signification, and proof of the validity and applicability of this treatment: using biofeedback without electronic equipment in the treatment of fecal incontinence.
Fifty-six patients were treated for rectal prolapse or incontinence. Rectal prolapse was present in 32 patients and was associated with fecal incontinence in 24 (75 per cent). Incontinence without prolapse was present in 24 patients, 12 of whom were less than 40 years old. Rectopexy was used for treatment of rectal prolapse. Surgical treatment of fecal incontinence was by postanal repair; external sphincter reconstruction and surgery was advised only if control of diarrhea and electrical therapy had been of no benefit. Rectopexy was completely successful at controlling rectal prolapse in all cases, and only four of the 20 (20 per cent) patients with incontinence and prolapse remained incontinent after rectopexy alone. Incontinence was completely controlled by postanal repair in 58 per cent of patients and by external sphincter repair alone or in combination with postanal repair in 67 per cent. Using a combination of therapies 45 of 48 patients who were initially incontinent were improved (94 per cent), and 42 of the patients have complete control of defecation (87 per cent).
Physiological and histological studies have shown that the internal and sphincter is abnormal in idiopathic fecal incontinence. We have recently demonstrated that the in vitro contractile response of the internal anal sphincter to the sympathetic neurotransmitter noradrenaline is decreased in incontinence. In this study we have further defined this reduced sensitivity and provided more information about the intrinsic innervation in both the normal and the incontinent sphincter muscle. Muscle strips from 12 incontinent patients undergoing post and repair and from 11 controls undergoing rectal excision for low rectal carcinoma were studied. Responses to noradrenaline were recorded initially alone and then in the presence of phentolamine, an alpha-adrenoceptor blocker. In the presence of phentolamine, noradrenaline caused relaxation: there was no significant difference in the relaxation-response curves and the EC50 was the same in the two groups. These results demonstrate that the previously documented reduced sensitivity to noradrenaline is due to an altered sensitivity of the alpha-adrenoceptors. Electrical field stimulation produced relaxations in all muscle strips, but only in the controls was the magnitude of the relaxation significantly increased in the presence of phentolamine. This indicates that there is an alpha-adrenergic excitatory component of the response to electrical field stimulation of the intramural nerves, which was present in tissues from control patients but which was absent in tissues from patients with idiopathic fecal incontinence.
BACKGROUND: Successful biofeedback therapy has been reported in the treatment of fecal incontinence and constipation. It is uncertain which groups of incontinent patients benefit from biofeedback, and our impression has been that biofeedback is more successful for incontinence than for constipation. PURPOSE: This study was designed to review the results of biofeedback therapy at the Lahey Clinic. METHODS: Biofeedback was performed using an eight-channel, water-perfused manometry system. Patients saw anal canal pressures as a color bar graph on a computer screen. Assessment after biofeedback was by manometry and by telephone interview with an independent researcher. RESULTS: Fifteen patients (13 women and 2 men) with incontinence underwent a mean of three (range, 1-7) biofeedback sessions. The cause was obstetric (four patients), postsurgical (five patients), and idiopathic (six patients). Complete resolution of symptoms was reported in four patients, considerable improvement in four patients, and some improvement in three patients. Manometry showed a mean increase of 15.3 (range, -3-30) mmHg in resting pressure and 35.7 (range, 13-57) mmHg in squeezing pressure after biofeedback. A successful outcome could not be predicted on the basis of cause, severity of incontinence, or initial manometry. Twelve patients (10 women and 2 men) with constipation underwent a mean of three (range, 1-14) biofeedback sessions. Each had manometric evidence of paradoxic nonrelaxing external sphincter or puborectalis muscle confirmed by defography or electromyography. All patients could be taught to relax their sphincter in response to bearing down. Despite this, only one patient reported resolution of symptoms, three patients had reduced straining, and three patients had some gain in insight. CONCLUSIONS: Biofeedback helped 73 percent of patients with fecal incontinence, and its use should be considered regardless of the cause or severity of incontinence or of results on initial manometry. In contrast, biofeedback directed at correcting paradoxic external sphincter contraction has been disappointing.
OBJECTIVE: External anal sphincter atrophy seen at endoanal MRI may predict poor outcome of surgical anal sphincter repair for an external anal sphincter defect. The purposes of this study were to compare external phased-array MRI to endoanal MRI for depicting external anal sphincter atrophy in patients with fecal incontinence and to evaluate observer reproducibility in detecting external anal sphincter atrophy with these techniques. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Thirty patients with fecal incontinence (23 women, seven men; mean age, 58.7 years; age range, 37-78 years) underwent both endoanal and external phased-array MRI. Images were evaluated for external anal sphincter atrophy by three radiologists. Measures of differences and agreement between both MRI techniques and of interobserver and intraobserver agreement of both techniques were calculated. RESULTS: The MRI techniques did not significantly differ in their ability to depict external anal sphincter atrophy (p = 0.63) with good agreement (kappa = 0.72). Interobserver agreement was moderate (kappa = 0.53-0.56) for endoanal MRI and moderate to good (kappa = 0.55-0.8) for external phased-array MRI. Intraobserver agreement was moderate to very good (kappa = 0.57-0.86) for endoanal MRI and fair to very good (kappa = 0.31-0.86) for external phased-array MRI. CONCLUSION: External phased-array MRI is comparable to endoanal MRI in depicting external anal sphincter atrophy and, thereby, in selecting patients for anal sphincter repair. Because results among interpreters varied considerably depending on the experience level, both techniques can be recommended in the diagnostic workup of fecal incontinence only if sufficient experience is available.
PURPOSE: The implantation of expandable microballoons has proved successful for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence. This led us to test its effectiveness in the treatment of severe fecal incontinence. METHODS: Six patients (four male), of average age of 43 (range, 29-60) years, with severe fecal incontinence, underwent implantation of expandable microballoons in the submucosa of the anal canal. The implantation was performed under intravenous sedation as an outpatient procedure. Anal manometry, endosonography, and incontinence assessment with a scoring system were performed before and after the implantation. RESULTS: With a mean follow-up of 8.6 (range, 7-12) months, the incontinence scores improved in all patients from an average of 16.16 (standard deviation: +/- 1.6) before the implantation to an average of 5 (standard deviation: +/- 1.26) after the procedure. The anal pressure at rest was not improved in any patient (mean: 50.16 before treatment to a mean of 53 after treatment). No significant adverse events were associated with the procedure, and no serious postimplantation complications were noted. DISCUSSION: Anal implantation of expandable microballoons seems to be a simple, safe, and effective method that restores the fecal continence without hindering normal defecation.
PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to present the technique of megasigmoid resection and anal reconstruction by complete posterior sagittal approach for the children with severe constipation and fecal incontinence after anoplasty. METHODS: Six patients (age, 2 to 18 years) born with imperforate anus and originally treated with perineal anoplasty suffered from intractable constipation and fecal incontinence. Contrast enema showed massive dilated and aperistaltic rectosigmoid colon with fecal impaction. Resection of the dilated bowel and anal reconstruction were completely performed by posterior sagittal approach. RESULTS: The mean operating time was 205 minutes (range, 125 to 265 minutes) and the average length of resected colon was 23.3 cm (range, 10 to 40 cm). There were no intraoperative or postoperative complications. By 2 to 4 months after the operation, all patients obtained voluntary bowel movement. On follow-up at 6 to 24 months postoperative, no patient had constipation or required use of the laxatives again. Four of 6 patients suffered from grade 1 soiling, and the other 2 had grade greater than 1 soiling. None had urinary retention or incontinence after the procedure. CONCLUSION: Resection of dilated rectosigmoid colon and anal reconstruction for the patients with severe constipation and fecal incontinence after anoplasty can be performed successfully using a posterior sagittal approach.