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The treatment of fecal impaction requires both the remedy of the impaction and treatment to prevent recurrences. Decreased motility of the colon results in dry, hard stools that in the case of fecal impaction become compacted into a large, hard mass of stool that cannot be expelled from the rectum. [citation needed]
The strength of the colon wall is known to decrease with age. [1] Previous theories proposed that impacted fecal matter and certain foods would get stuck in diverticula (thereby causing trauma), which caused poor blood flow, death of the affected intestinal wall cells, and intestinal perforation. [1]
It is a hardening of feces into lumps of varying size and may occur anywhere in the intestinal tract but is typically found in the colon. It is also called appendicolith when it occurs in the appendix and is sometimes concurrent with appendicitis. [1] They can also obstruct diverticula. It can form secondary to fecal impaction.
Fecal impaction can occur as well, says Khan, “which is when stool stays in the rectum for so long that it becomes dry and cannot be expelled naturally, so it must be removed with [a health care ...
Diverticulitis surgery consists of a bowel resection with or without colostomy. Either may be done by the traditional laparotomy or by laparoscopic surgery. [75] The traditional bowel resection is made using an open surgical approach, called colectomy. During a colectomy, the person is placed under general anesthesia. A surgeon performing a ...
This mass may stretch the walls of the rectum and colon, causing megarectum and/or megacolon, respectively. Liquid stool may leak around a fecal impaction, possibly causing degrees of liquid fecal incontinence. This is usually termed encopresis or soiling in children, and fecal leakage, soiling or liquid fecal incontinence in adults.
Finally, abnormal connections between the bacteria-rich colon and the small bowel can increase the bacterial load in the small bowel. Patients with Crohn's disease or other diseases of the ileum may require surgery that removes the ileocecal valve connecting the small and large bowel; this leads to an increased reflux of bacteria into the small ...
Additionally, fecalomas may be seen as masses in the colon. In the case of ulceration, the part of the colon adjacent to the fecaloma will be thickened. This thickening of the bowel will help differentiate from stercoral colitis and stercoral ulcer from fecal impaction as the colon is typically not thickened in cases of fecal impaction. [2]