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Functional nonretentive fecal incontinence: do enemas help?

Rosa Burgers1, Johannes B Reitsma, Marloes E J Bongers

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Emma Children's Hospital, Amsterdam Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. r.e.burgers@amc.nl

The Journal of Pediatrics
|November 21, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Adding daily enemas to conventional therapy did not significantly improve treatment success for functional nonretentive fecal incontinence in children. Both treatment groups showed similar outcomes in reducing fecal incontinence episodes.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Gastroenterology
  • Child Health
  • Bowel Management

Background:

  • Functional nonretentive fecal incontinence (FI) is a common condition in children.
  • Current management typically involves education, toilet training, and positive motivation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficacy of adding daily enemas to conventional therapy for functional nonretentive fecal incontinence.
  • To compare treatment outcomes between conventional therapy alone and conventional therapy with enemas.

Main Methods:

  • A randomized controlled trial involving 71 children (aged 6+) diagnosed with functional nonretentive FI.
  • Participants received either conventional therapy or conventional therapy plus daily enemas for 2 weeks.
  • Treatment success was defined as fewer than 2 FI episodes per month without enema use.

Main Results:

  • Both groups experienced a significant reduction in fecal incontinence episodes.
  • No statistically significant difference in treatment success rates was observed between the enema intervention group and the control group (17% success in both).
  • Follow-up data also showed no significant difference between the groups.

Conclusions:

  • Temporary daily enema use did not significantly enhance treatment success for functional nonretentive fecal incontinence.
  • Conventional therapy alone appears as effective as adding short-term enemas for this condition.
Abstract

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