Causes of Retentive Encopresis

Retentive Encopresis frequently results from chronic constipation, which over time results in fecal impaction and in leakage of soft or liquid stool accumulated around the impacted stool or feces. (see Constipation in Toddlers and Children)

The leakage may occur during the day or night and it is NOT under the conscious control of the child.

The frequency of leakage varies from infrequent occurrences to a continuous flow.

In fecal impactions, feces become impacted in the child's colon, causing it to distend. This causes the child not to feel the urge to defecate.

As a result, the anal sphincter muscle becomes weak and unable to contain the soft stools that pass around the impaction.

Despite the constipation, these children actually do have regular bowel movements. However, these bowel movements are often soft and frequently involuntary.

The child may not even be aware that he or she has defecated until the fecal matter has already passed.

Many children have a history of constipation that extends back as far as five years before the problem was brought to medical attention.

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