Cinedefecographic evidence of difficult evacuation in constipated patients with complex symptoms

Patients with constipation may have various pelvic complaints of difficult evacuation coexisting with infrequent evacuation and other abdominal complaints, and the overlapping of symptoms makes it difficult to select appropriate therapy based on clinical history and routine office examination alone. Cinedefecography is an objective method for examining patients who have complex subjective symptoms. This study assessed the value of cinedefecography for evaluating patients with constipation with multiple complaints. We divided 185 patients with constipation into two those with (group 1) or without (group 2) cinedefecographic evidence of difficult evacuation. These groups were compared relative to complaints, manometric results, cinedefecography findings, and the success of biofeedback treatment. Group 1 patients were further evaluated according to the type of abnormal findings: sigmoidocele, rectocele, intussusception, and perineal descent. We found no significant differences in patient complaints between the groups. However, there were more patients in group 2 with intussusception than in group 1; there were also significant differences between the groups in mean resting pressure, maximum resting pressure, and maximum squeeze pressure. In group 1 patients with rectocele complained more frequently of excessive straining, and those with intussusception complained more frequently of incomplete evacuation. Sensory threshold and maximal tolerable capacity were significantly higher in patients with intussusception. Rectocele was predominant in women, and biofeedback treatment was extremely advantageous (86%) for patients in group 1 with a rectocele in association with other pathology. Whether the intussusception or the descent causes decreased mean resting and mean and maximum squeeze pressures is unknown but is an additional and potentially important finding which needs further elucidation for it to have therapeutic significance.