[Rectal prolapse: etiopathogenetic and therapeutic problems in psychiatric patients]

Rectum prolapse is a pathological condition which has long been considered as rare but whose occurrence has been progressively increasing in the past decades. There still exists a degree of uncertainty as to the disease etiopathology: moreover the exact relationship between rectum prolapse and psychic disorders which have been found in up to 50% of the patients with prolapse has not been clarified. Neither on the therapeutic level is there a common opinion as to the ideal surgical approach and over one hundred techniques have been suggested for the surgical correction of the prolapse. A study has been carried out on 10 patients suffering from psychiatric pathology of different kinds (oligophrenia, schizophrenic psychosis), hospitalized at Istituti Ospedalieri Opera Don Uva in Bisceglie. They suffered from complete rectum prolapse and underwent surgical intervention. In this study the etiopathogenetic problems of prolapse are investigated according to recent developments, with particular reference to the very peculiar implications they have in the psychiatric patient. Finally the surgical techniques correctly used and their possible application in the psychiatric patient are examined.