Fecal Incontinence

Treatment

A number of treatments are available at Mayo Clinic to improve or restore your bowel control.

Dietary changes

Changes in diet can often help mild fecal incontinence. Eliminating such things as spicy or fatty foods and beverages containing caffeine or sugars can help diminish diarrhea. For constipation, fiber-rich foods are recommended.

Medications

Many people are helped by anti-diarrhea drugs for loose stools and suppositories or laxatives for constipation.

Muscle exercises and biofeedback

Some people have weakened pelvic floor and/or sphincter muscles that are important in defecating and delaying defecation. Doctors and therapists at Mayo Clinic can teach you simple exercises that increase anal muscle strength.

Mayo Clinic has special outpatient programs, lasting from a few days to two weeks, in which specially trained physiotherapists help people relearn bowel movement techniques with biofeedback. People learn how to strengthen pelvic floor muscles, sense when stool is ready to be evacuated and contract the muscles if evacuation is inconvenient.

Surgical repair

Surgery can be helpful in some cases, such as when anal muscles are damaged in childbirth or when the rectum protrudes through the anus (rectal prolapse). A sphincteroplasty is a procedure done by a colon and rectal surgeon to repair the sphincter. Mayo Clinic generally recommends this procedure only when done very shortly after the initial injury. Otherwise, incontinence tends to recur a year or two after the operation.

Less common procedures may be considered for complex injuries, such as extensive nerve damage. Successful repair depends upon the severity of the injury, how long you have had the condition and whether an infection is present.

Nerve stimulation

Nerve stimulation involves implanting a device that sends small electrical impulses continuously to the nerve (sacral or tibial) which controls defecation and voiding. While Mayo Clinic doctors perform nerve stimulation for urinary incontinence, studies have found the treatment to also be effective in some cases with fecal incontinence. However, it is not available as a routine treatment until approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Secca procedure

The minimally invasive Secca procedure is offered at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. Radiofrequency energy is used to burn the inside of the rectum. After the burns heal, the rectum is less prone to incontinence in some patients.

Read more about treatment of fecal incontinence at MayoClinic.com.