Bowel Incontinence
Bowel incontinence, also called fecal incontinence, is the inability to control your bowels.
When you feel the urge to have a bowel movement, you may not be able to hold it until you get to the bathroom. Or, stool may leak from the rectum unexpectedly, sometimes while passing flatulence (gas). Urinary incontinence, a separate topic, is the inability to control the passage of urine.
More than 5.5 million Americans have bowel incontinence. It affects people of all ages, children and adults. Bowel incontinence is more common in women and older adults, but it is not a normal part of aging.
Loss of bowel control can be devastating. People who have bowel incontinence may feel ashamed, embarrassed, or humiliated. Some don’t want to leave the house out of fear they might have an accident in public. Most try to hide the problem as long as possible, so they withdraw from friends and family. The social isolation is unfortunate but may be reduced with treatment that improves bowel control and makes incontinence easier to manage.
Diagnosis of Bowel Incontinence
Doctors understand the feelings associated with bowel incontinence, so you can talk freely with your doctor. The doctor will ask some health-related questions, do a physical exam, and possibly run some medical tests. Your doctor may refer you to a specialist, such as a gastroenterologist, proctologist, or colorectal surgeon.
The doctor or specialist may conduct one or more tests:
- Anal manometry checks the tightness of the anal sphincter and its ability to respond to signals, as well as the sensitivity and function of the rectum. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is sometimes used to evaluate the sphincter.
- Anorectal ultrasonography evaluates the structure of the anal sphincters.
- Proctography, also known as defecography, shows how much stool the rectum can hold, how well the rectum holds it, and how well the rectum can evacuate it.
- Proctosigmoidoscopy allows doctors to look inside the rectum and lower colon for signs of disease or other problems that can cause bowel incontinence, such as inflammation, tumors, or scar tissue.
- Anal electromyography tests for nerve damage, which is often associated with injury during childbirth.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Leave a Reply