What is obstructed defecation syndrome?
Obstructed defecation means difficulty pooping. This can be for a variety of reasons, both mechanical and psychological. People with obstructed defecation syndrome (ODS) feel that they can’t poop when they want to, they aren’t pooping often enough or they aren’t pooping everything out all the way. They suffer from constipation, but also sometimes from fecal incontinence, when backed-up poop overflows. They spend a lot of time on the toilet, waiting or straining to poop (defecate). Over time, excessive straining and passage of hard stools can deteriorate the muscles and nerves involved, which adds to the problem.
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How does this condition affect my body?
ODS is a broad umbrella term describing a range of conditions that involve constipation and difficulty defecating. What they have in common are the symptoms of constipation.
Diagnosis of constipation requires two or more of the following symptoms, consistently for 90 days:
- Straining on more than 25% of bowel movements.
- The feeling that you didn’t completely empty your bowels (incomplete evacuation) on more than 25% of bowel movements.
- Hard stools on more than 25% of bowel movements.
- Needing to use your fingers to help pass stools more than 25% of the time.
- Fewer than three bowel movements a week.
These symptoms may only be the tip of the iceberg, however. They often result from underlying conditions that have yet to be discovered.
Having chronic constipation for a long time can also cause its own set of problems. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell what the original cause was and what the effect was.
People with obstructed defecation might also have:
- Pelvic floor dysfunction. The muscles and nerves in your pelvic floor can’t coordinate correctly to make a bowel movement.
- Organ prolapse. One of the pelvic organs, such as the bladder, uterus or bowel, has fallen out of place and is bulging into another organ or falling out of the body.
- Rectal hyposensation. A loss of the ability to sense stool in the rectum or the need to have a bowel movement.
- Pooping anxiety. They might have a conscious or unconscious habit of guarding against hard, painful stools by stopping bowel movements.
How common is this condition?
About 18% of the population suffers from the broad range of conditions known as obstructed defecation syndrome. It’s especially common in women and after middle age.
