Encopresis

Encopresis.

Constipation and Encopresis in Childhood.

What do the following children have in common? • A 12-month-old girl with hard pellet-like stools. • A 3-year-old girl with frequent complaints of dysuria and hard stools. • An 8-year-old boy with a weekly stool that is large enough to clog a toilet. • A 12-year-old boy with daily loose stools in his underpants. Answer: They share a familiar diagnosis: functional constipation. Constipation is a...

Assessment of behavioral mechanisms maintaining encopresis: Virginia Encopresis-Constipation Apperception Test.

OBJECTIVE To develop and test a scale for parent and child, evaluating theoretical and clinical parameters relevant to children with encopresis. Encopretic children were hypothesized to have more bowel-specific, but not more generic, psychological problems, as compared with nonsymptomatic control children. In addition, mothers were also believed to be more discerning than children. METHODS Th...

Constipation and encopresis in childhood.

Encopresis: a medical and family approach.

Bowel control is an important developmental milestone for children. Failure to achieve or loss of bowel control by five years of age threatens both physical and mental health. Most children are successful at achieving bowel control by age four, but up to 3% of the pediatric population suffer from encopresis. Three in-depth case studies were reviewed, including the causes, symptoms, and treatmen...