Stercoral colitis
| Stercoral colitis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| CT of a 30-year-old with stercoral colitis showing rectal dilatation (star) due to fecal impaction; and rectal wall thickening (arrow) and perirectal fat stranding (arrowheads) due to inflammation.[1] | |
 | |
| Specialty | General surgery, gastroenterology |
| Symptoms | None, abdominal distension, nausea, abdominal pain[1] |
| Complications | Ischemic colitis, colonic perforation[1][2] |
| Usual onset | Elderly[3] |
| Risk factors | Constipation, dementia, opioids, mental health problems, unable to walk[3][2] |
| Diagnostic method | CT scan[3] |
| Differential diagnosis | Diverticulitis, appendicitis, bowel obstruction, mesenteric ischemia, infectious colitis[1] |
| Treatment | Laxatives, digital disimpaction, surgery[3] |
| Frequency | Rare[1] |
Stercoral colitis is when severe constipation results in inflammation of the colon.[1] Symptoms vary from none to, abdominal distension, nausea, and abdominal pain.[1] Complications can include ischemic colitis, resulting in crampy pain or colonic perforation resulting in severe pain of sudden onset.[1][2]
Risk factors include long-term constipation, dementia, long-term opioid use, mental health problems, and being unable to walk.[3][2] The underlying mechanism involves increased pressure in the colon which may include a fecaloma (dehydrated stool).[2] Diagnosis may be supported by CT scan.[3]
Management may involve the use of laxatives or digital disimpaction, which may require admission to hospital.[3] If this does not work, or perforation is present, surgery is required.[3] Stercoral colitis is rare.[1] Less than 150 cases resulting in perforation have been described as of 2019.[4] Most of those who are affected are old.[3] It was first described in 1894.[4][5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Bae, E; Tran, J; Shah, K (2 January 2024). "Stercoral colitis in the emergency department: a review of the literature". International journal of emergency medicine. 17 (1): 3. doi:10.1186/s12245-023-00578-x. PMID 38166616.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Morano, C; Sharman, T (January 2024). "Stercoral Colitis". StatPearls. PMID 32809443. Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 "Stercoral Colitis". Core EM. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ahuja, Vanita (29 April 2019). "A Clinical Case Study and Review of the Literature on Stercoral Ulcer Perforation: An Uncommon but Deadly Culprit". doi:10.31487/j.SCR.2018.03.024.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ↑ Sahani, Dushyant V.; Samir, Anthony E. (29 October 2010). Abdominal Imaging E-Book: Expert Radiology Series. Elsevier Health Sciences. ISBN 978-1-4557-4033-8. Archived from the original on 18 March 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2024.