THE EVALUATION AND TREATMENT OF FUNCTIONAL CONSTIPATION

Constipation and defecation may be considered as the last taboo. The i nability to defecate or to achieve this only by digital evacuation has never been a popular topic among patients rind doctors. Application o f tests from the colorectal laboratory has made it possible to study t he function of the different Darts of the colon and the mechanism of c ontinence. We consider transit studies, defecography, EMG, and anal ma nometry, all useful as diagnostic procedures for functional constipati on. Several causes of functional constipation can be distinguished in slow transit and difficult evacuation or colonic inertia? spastic pelv ic floor syndrome, rectocele and intussusception. This article present s our view of the assessment and management of functional constipation .