OBJECTIVE To elucidate our experience and outcome in the management of childhood encopresis, and to emphasize the factors that may predict successful management. METHODS This prospective study was carried out between September 2003 and September 2011 in the Department of Pediatric Surgery, Al-Thoura Teaching Hospital, Al-Beida and Al-Butnan Medical Teaching Center, Tobruk, Libya. RESULTS On...

Encopresis or faecal soiling has been defined as an act of involuntary defecation which is not directly attributed to organic illness (Kanner, 1950). Encopresis or soiling may occur in children with normal intelligence, brain damaged children and psychotic children. It denotes an uncontrolled defecation of an emotional origin. Presently, there are few reports of successful treatment by means of...

Encopresis is often the result of chronic constipation in the majority of paediatric patients. In clinical practice, however, encopresis is also seen without constipation and it is unknown whether these two clinical variants are based on similar or different pathophysiological mechanisms, requiring different therapeutic approaches. We analysed clinical symptoms, colonic transit time (CTT), oroc...

OBJECTIVE To compare the characteristics of children with encopresis referred to a single encopresis clinic over the course of 20 years, including symptoms, previous diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, and parental attitudes. METHODS A retrospective study was conducted of an encopresis clinic at a tertiary care pediatric hospital. Questionnaires at initial evaluation elicited informatio...

OBJECTIVE To validate a theoretical model of encopresis in terms of psychological factors that differentiates children with and without chronic encopresis and to identify scales that demonstrate these differences. METHODS Eighty-six children with encopresis were compared to 62 nonsymptomatic children on five psychometric instruments. Differences in the mean scores and the percentages of child...

We performed a rectal motility study in 39 children with encopresis and in 41 with chronic functional constipation. A three balloon system Schuster technic, was employed. Pressure changes were recorded. The "Inflation" reflex was absent in 23/39 children with Encopresis 59% and in 11/41. 26.8% with chronic functional constipation (p < 0.05).

The study aimed to evaluate the differences between groups of encopresis patients with constipation and without constipation. The Symptom Checklist- 90-Revised, the COPE Questionnaire, the Relationship Scales Questionnaire, the McMaster Family Assessment Device and the Parenting Style Scale were used to evaluate, respectively, maternal psychiatric symptoms, coping abilities, attachment style, f...

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most frequently reported coexisting psychiatric conditions in children with encopresis. Some case reports state that atomoxetine-a selective presynaptic norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor-approved for treatment of ADHD is also effective in the treatment of coexisting encopresis. Contrasting those reports, here we present a case diagnos...