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Fecal impaction

 

 
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Fecal impaction
 
 
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A fecal impaction is a solid, immobile bulk of stool
Human feces

Human Feces , also known as stools, is the waste product of the human digestive system and varies significantly in appearance, depending on the state of the whole digestive system, influenced by diet and health....
 that can develop in the rectum
Rectum

The rectum is the final straight portion of the large intestine in some mammals, and the Gastrointestinal tract in others, terminating in the anus....
 as a result of chronic constipation
Constipation

Constipation, costiveness, or irregularity, is a condition of the digestive system in which a person experiences hard feces that are difficult to expel....
.

toms include chronic constipation. There can be fecal incontinence and paradoxical diarrhea as liquid stool passes around the obstruction. Complications may include necrosis
Necrosis

Necrosis is the name given to premature death of cell s and living biological tissue. Necrosis is caused by external factors, such as infection, toxins, or trauma....
 and ulcers
Peptic ulcer

A peptic ulcer, also known as ulcus pepticum, PUD or peptic ulcer disease, is an ulcer of an area of the gastrointestinal tract that is usually acidic and thus extremely painful....
 of the rectal tissue.

invasive treatments are similar to those for constipation and include increased intake of fluids and dietary fiber
Dietary fiber

Dietary fiber, sometimes called "roughage", is the indigestible portion of plant foods that pushes food through the digestive system, absorbing water and easing defecation....
, and physical exercise.






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Encyclopedia


A fecal impaction is a solid, immobile bulk of stool
Human feces

Human Feces , also known as stools, is the waste product of the human digestive system and varies significantly in appearance, depending on the state of the whole digestive system, influenced by diet and health....
 that can develop in the rectum
Rectum

The rectum is the final straight portion of the large intestine in some mammals, and the Gastrointestinal tract in others, terminating in the anus....
 as a result of chronic constipation
Constipation

Constipation, costiveness, or irregularity, is a condition of the digestive system in which a person experiences hard feces that are difficult to expel....
.

Symptoms

Symptoms include chronic constipation. There can be fecal incontinence and paradoxical diarrhea as liquid stool passes around the obstruction. Complications may include necrosis
Necrosis

Necrosis is the name given to premature death of cell s and living biological tissue. Necrosis is caused by external factors, such as infection, toxins, or trauma....
 and ulcers
Peptic ulcer

A peptic ulcer, also known as ulcus pepticum, PUD or peptic ulcer disease, is an ulcer of an area of the gastrointestinal tract that is usually acidic and thus extremely painful....
 of the rectal tissue.

Treatment

Non-invasive treatments are similar to those for constipation and include increased intake of fluids and dietary fiber
Dietary fiber

Dietary fiber, sometimes called "roughage", is the indigestible portion of plant foods that pushes food through the digestive system, absorbing water and easing defecation....
, and physical exercise. However, once fecal impaction occurs, these methods are usually not successful.

The mainstay of treatment are enema
Enema

An enema is the procedure of introducing liquids into the rectum and Colon via the anus. Enemas can be carried out for medical reasons as a remedy for encopresis, as part of alternative health therapies, as punishment, and also for eroticism purposes, particularly to prepare for anal sex, and as part of BDSM activities....
s to soften the impaction and disimpaction, i.e. digital
Finger

A finger is a type of digit , an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of humans and other primates.Normally humans have five digits, termed phalanges, on each hand ....
 manipulation by a health practitioner. Use of stimulant laxatives may be dangerous because of the possibility of stercoral perforation
Stercoral perforation

Stercoral perforation is the perforation or rupture of the intestine's walls by its internal contents, such as foreign objects, or, more commonly, by hardened feces which may form in long constipations or other diseases which cause obstruction of transit, such as Chagas disease, Hirschprung's disease, toxic colitis and megacolon....
. Surgery
Surgery

Surgery is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, to help improve bodily function or appearance, or sometimes for some other reason....
 may be necessary if the bowel becomes totally obstructed.

See also

  • Fecaloma
    Fecaloma

    A fecaloma, also called fecalith and coprolith, i.e., stones made of feces, is a hardening of feces into stones of varying size inside the Colon , which may appear whenever chronic obstruction of transit occurs, such as in megacolon and chronic constipation....
Manual removal of fecal impaction is often required in obese client in traction, after barium enema, and poorly hydrated older adult.