What is constipation?
Although constipation is a very common complaint in children, it is a condition that is overlooked by families. In general, it is common to consult a doctor with complaints of abdominal pain, loss of appetite, growth retardation, difficulty in stool, painful defecation (stool), hard stool, pain or bleeding in the buttocks.
In which period is constipation most common?
It is a chronic (long-lasting) process that can be seen at any age, although it is usually in the transition from breast milk to supplementary food in infants, and after toilet training between 2-4 years of age.
Is constipation and voiding disorder seen together?
There is a close physiological relationship between voiding disorders and chronic functional constipation. It is very common for patients who apply to pediatric surgeons with chronic functional constipation to have urinary disorders accompanying the picture. In chronic functional constipation, the enlarged rectum (large intestine) filled with stool causes pressure on the bladder (urinary bag), which impairs both filling and emptying functions, and this leads to pictures such as urinary incontinence and urinary tract infections.
What kind of clinical work do you encounter with constipation and voiding disorder?
Chronic functional constipation and voiding disorders are two diseases that have an important place in each other’s etiology (cause-cause), and if a patient has both, the patient needs a more complex and long treatment process. The presenting complaints in patients with voiding disorder are daytime urinary incontinence, sudden urgency, frequent urination in small amounts, bedwetting, and urinary tract infection. 90% of children with voiding disorder also have chronic functional constipation.
How is Constipation Diagnosed?
For the diagnosis of chronic functional constipation; The onset of complaints, physical examination, and direct radiography are sufficient.
If constipation is treated, will voiding disorders also improve?
There are studies in the literature showing the effectiveness of chronic functional constipation treatment on the correction of voiding disorders. For instance; re-evaluated patients with chronic constipation and encopresis (fecal incontinence) after 12 months of constipation treatment, and reported that 89% of the patients who had success in the treatment of chronic constipation, daytime voiding disorder improved in 63% and nighttime voiding disorder in 63%.
How and who can treat my child with constipation and voiding disorder? It is more appropriate to give treatment by physicians who are experts in the physiopathology of the gastrointestinal (gastrointestinal) and urinary (excretion) systems. Pediatric surgeons are among the physician groups that receive good training in this regard.
The physician gave medication to my child who has constipation and voiding disorder. Will this treatment be sufficient? Medication given may temporarily relieve symptoms. Since the existing problems are a chronic (ongoing) process that occurs as a result of a mislearned behavior disorder and nutritional problem, the duration of treatment and follow-up varies between 3 months and 1 year.
