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Encopresis

Encopresis Overview

Encopresis is the soiling of the underwear with stool by children who are past the age of toilet training. Because each child achieves bowel control at his or her own rate, medical professionals do not consider stool soiling to be a medical condition unless the child is at least 4 years old. This stool or fecal soiling usually has a physical origin and is involuntary—the child does not soil on purpose. A large amount of hard stool is in the intestine, and stool leaks around this mass and out through the anus.

In the United States, it is estimated that 1-2% of children younger than 10 years are affected by encopresis. Many more boys than girls experience encopresis; approximately 80% of affected children are boys.



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Encopresis

Constipation in Children »

Constipation in Children Overview

Constipation occurs commonly in children, affecting up to 10% at any given time. Still, only 3% of parents actually seek advice from the doctor for this condition. Constipation describes the infrequent passage of stools (bowel movements) or the passage of hard stools. Any definition of constipation depends upon comparison to how often the child normally passes stools and to the normal consistency of his or her stools.

Many children normally pass stools as far apart as every few days. Regardless, you should treat hard stools that are difficult to pass and those that happen only every three days as constipation.

Constipation in Children Causes

Infants and children with constipation are treated differently than adults because patterns of bowel movements change from the time they are born until they reach the age of 3 or 4 years. The majority of children with constipation do not have a medical d...

Read the Constipation in Children article »



Read What Your Physician is Reading on eMedicine

Encopresis »

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third edition (DSM-III), encopresis is defined as the "repeated involuntary passage of feces into places not appropriate for that purpose...the event must take place for at least 6 months, the chronologic and mental age of the child must be at least 4 years."

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