2Turkuaz FTR Merkezi, FTR TRABZON
3Ankara Fizik Tedavi ve Rehabilitasyon Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi Fiziksel Tıp ve Rehabilitasyon ANKARA Introduction: To asses bowel dysfunction in stroke patients, especially constipation and fecal incontinence, and to describe the factors that play a role in these conditions.
Materials and Methods: The study enrolled 112 patients with stroke. A detailed gastrointestinal symptom evaluation of the pre-and post-stroke period was performed, with special attention to constipation and fecal incontinence, The functional status of patients was evaluated using the Functional Independence Measurement, Brunstroom staging was used for the motor examination, and ambulation status was evaluated with the Functional Ambulation Scale.
Results: While only 29 patients had constipation prior to stroke, 83 patients were found to have post-stroke constipation. None of our patients complained of fecal incontinence in the prestroke period, although 23 patients developed fecal incontinence after stroke. We found that bowel dysfunctions such as constipation and fecal incontinence were not correlated with aphasia, thromboembolic or hemorrhagic stroke, side of stroke, medication, diabetes or gender. There were no significant relationships between the presence of constipation and patient age, Brunnstrom stage or functional ambulation scale score. Patients with low Brunnnstrom stage scores and functional ambulation scale scores, and also those over age 65, experienced more fecal incontinence.
Conclusions: Neurogenic bowel, which adversely affects the patient's quality of life, is a frequently encountered problem after stroke.
Keywords : Stroke; Constipation; Fecal Incontinence; Neurogenic Bowel