Fecal incontinence

The development of fecal incontinence is often determined by fate - as a result of a genetic predisposition, in association with other medical conditions and natural signs of ageing. As in urinary incontinence, many patients affected have been helped by modern diagnosis and therapies. This is why it is important to encourage patients to seek treatment, to break down taboos and to remove the fear that is often present before the diagnosis and therapy.

The degree of fecal incontinence ranges from occasional soiling to liquid stool incontinence right up to frank solid stool incontinence, the actual incontinence. The degrees of severity of incontinence is usually differentiated as follows: flatus - cannot be controlled, liquid stools - cannot be retained, solid stools - cannot be controlled.

The following disorders can lead to incontinence: psycho-organic disorders (with a decline in continence with age being normal), disorders affecting the character of the stools (diarrhea, constipation), a loss of rectal storage (the urge to defecate normally occurs when the rectal contents reach 50 ml), sphincter system damages (for example, as a result of accident or surgeries), or neurogenic and sensory damage (for example, as a result of CNS diseases, paraplegia, injuries).

Measures to diagnose fecal incontinence include detailed anamnesis as well as clinical and instrumentational examinations. Treatment is based on conservative therapies, particularly defecation control with instructions on proper defecation habits, as well as drugs for adjuvant use. A prerequisite for physical therapy such as pelvic floor exercises, endoanal stimulation and biofeedback is an intact sphincter with the corresponding continuity. Surgical therapies include the treatment of proctological diseases such as hemorrhoids, fistulas, fissures, tumors and sphincter reconstructions and plasties.