Constipation: Causes and concern

Abstract

Con sti pa tion is one of the fre quently de scribed gas tro in tes ti nal symp toms. In fre quent def e ca tion, hard or lumpy stools, ex ces sive strain ing, and incom plete evacuation char ac ter ize it. Com plaints of chronic con sti pa tion may im pair the qual ity of life of a pa tient sub stan tially. The dis ease feel ing is shaped not only by ob jec tive pa ram e ters but also by sub jec tive per cep tions. How ever, in most of the pa tients, no dis tinct pa thol ogy can be found. A smaller group of pa tients, how ever, ex hibit iso lated or in com bi na tion a slow colo-nic tran sit or a pel vic floor dys func tion. Secondary ex train tes ti nal causes are to be looked for par tic u larly dur ing a first clin i cal eval u a tion. Apart from gen eral clin i cal in ves ti ga tions if necessary com bined with a colonoscopy, spe cific func tion tests may be ap plied. Dif fer ent lax a tive agents are the pri mary cor ner stones of treat ment. In se lected cases, bio feed back train ing or even sur gi cal in ter ven tion can be suc cess fully adopted. In clin i cal prac tice, con sti pa tion is de fined as fewer than three bowel movements per week. Con sti pa tion is more prev a lent in women, blacks, per sons from lower so cioeco nomic lev els, and in ru ral pop u la tion.