Dysfunctional elimination syndrome: a short review of the literature

The combination of the functional disorders of urination and defecation constitutes the Dysfunctional Elimination Syndrome (DES). DES refers to an abnormal pattern of elimination of unknown etiology characterized by bowel and bladder incontinence and withholding, with no underlying anatomic or neurologic abnormalities. Essential precondition for a child to be subsumed under this entity is the exclusion of either anatomical or neurological causative factors. In the present review study the individual entities of dysfunctional filling, such as the unstable or lazy bladder, or dysfunctional urination, such as the detrusor sphincter dyssynergia and the functional constipation are being described comprehensively. Subsequently, the analysis of the pathophysiological effects of the dysfunctional elimination syndrome such as incontinence, urinary tract infections and the conservation or the deterioration of vesicoureteric reflux, is being accentuated. With the documentation of DES, the therapeutic strategy should aim at treating both the functional disorder of the vesicourethral unit and the functional constipation. The first part does not specify depending on the type of this disorder. Rarely, surgical treatment of functional urinary disorders may be required.