The development of instruments for the measurement of faecal incontinence symptoms and quality of life impact is at an early stage in psychometric terms (Thomas et al., 2006). The absence of large scale studies and clinical data makes the selection of reliable and valid measures difficult. Issues surrounding the actual content of questionnaires and scoring systems are also hotly debated. Some o...

BACKGROUND Some patients with faecal incontinence are not amenable to simple surgical sphincter repair, due to sphincter weakness in the absence of a structural defect. AIMS To evaluate the efficacy and possible mode of action of short term stimulation of sacral nerves in patients with faecal incontinence and a structurally intact external anal sphincter. PATIENTS Twelve patients with faeca...

INTRODUCTION Faecal incontinence is a distressing condition with recurrent uncontrolled passage of faecal material. Although faecal incontinence may cause psychological depression and social isolation, previous treatments have been limited. Recently, regenerative treatment has been developed using mesenchymal stem cells. Especially, there are possibilities that adipose-tissue-derived stem cells...

Background—Some patients with faecal incontinence are not amenable to simple surgical sphincter repair, due to sphincter weakness in the absence of a structural defect. Aims—To evaluate the eYcacy and possible mode of action of short term stimulation of sacral nerves in patients with faecal incontinence and a structurally intact external anal sphincter. Patients—Twelve patients with faecal inco...

The association of faecal incontinence with constipation and confusion in the elderly is well recognised but the anal function of faecally incontinent geriatric patients is poorly understood. Anal studies were therefore performed on 99 geriatric patients (49 with faecal incontinence, 19 continent patients with faecal impaction and 31 geriatric control patients with normal bowel habit) and 57 yo...

Faecal incontinence is a very debilitating problem. Many techniques have been proposed to treat this condition, with controversial results. Autologous transplant of fat tissue is an established procedure used for the repair of tissue damage, and recent studies revealed the potentiality of tissue regeneration by human adipose-derived stem cells. We treated this condition with the injection, in t...

Faecal incontinence has been previously defined as ‘the involuntary or inappropriate passage of faeces’. This definition, however, is considered to be incomplete as it does not include incontinence to flatus. Therefore many adopt the term anal incontinence to include flatus. The current recommended definition of anal incontinence is the involuntary loss of flatus, liquid or solid stool that is ...

The latency of the response in the external anal sphincter muscle following transcutaneous stimulation of the cauda equina at the L1 vertebral level was measured in nine women with neurogenic faecal incontinence (mean 7.3 SD 0.7 ms) and 11 normal subjects (mean 5.6 SD 0.6 ms) (p = 0.01). There was no difference in conduction velocity between the L1 and L4 vertebral levels thus supporting the su...

INTRODUCTION In Australia, faecal incontinence, the involuntary loss of liquid or solid stool with or without a person's awareness, has been reported in 8% of the South Australian and 11% of the urban New South Wales community-dwelling populations. Studies conducted in 2004 and 2005 reported faecal incontinence in more than 20% of colorectal and urogynaecological clinic patients at Townsville H...