Faecal incontinence articles from across Nature Portfolio

Faecal incontinence and evacuation disorders are common and substantially impair quality of life. In this Consensus Statement, the authors describe recommended tests for the evaluation of anorectal function and the clinical relevance of these tests in the management of patients to help guide the practising clinician.

Faecal incontinence can occur in patients who have undergone a colonoscopy. The incidence of postexamination faecal incontinence in a large Norwegian cohort has now been reported, and the risk of faecal incontinence found to be reduced if CO₂ is used instead of air to insufflate the colon.

New research confirms that sacral nerve stimulation is a feasible option for treating subjective symptoms of urinary and fecal incontinence in children. However, owing to a lack of correlation between objective and clinical response parameters, we require standardized means of assessing outcomes in this patient population.