Identifying, Understanding, and Managing Fecal Urgency in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Fecal urgency, which is defined by the sudden need to rush to the bathroom to empty one's bowel, is one of the common and distressing symptoms experienced by patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

We performed a narrative review to investigate the definition, pathophysiology, and therapeutic management of fecal urgency.

Definitions of fecal urgency in inflammatory bowel disease, but also in irritable bowel syndrome, oncology, nononcologic surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, and in proctology, are empirical and heterogenous, lacking standardization. In the majority of these studies, nonvalidated questionnaires were used. When nonpharmacologic measures (dietary regimen, cognitive behavioral program) fail, medications such as loperamide, tricyclic antidepressants, or biofeedback therapy may become necessary. Medical management of fecal urgency may be challenging, in part because only limited data are available regarding the treatment of this symptom in randomized clinical trials of biologics in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

There is an urgent need for a systematic approach to assessment of fecal urgency in inflammatory bowel disease. It is time to consider fecal urgency as an outcome in clinical trials to remedy this disabling symptom.