Faecal incontinence: assessment and treatment
Faecal incontinence means not being able to control gas or stool as you wish. Several treatment options are available, and the assessment is used to tailor care to the cause and type. The first step is an open conversation and an ordinary clinical examination.
Written by Bahir Hadi, specialist in surgery, PhD
Awaiting medical review.
When you cannot control gas or stool
Faecal incontinence means that gas or stool leaks without you being able to control it. It is more common than most people think, and it is not something to live with in silence. Several treatment options are available, and the assessment is used to tailor care to the cause and type. 1, 2, 3
Different types of symptoms
- Involuntary passing of gas, which for many is the first symptom.
- Leakage of loose or formed stool.
- Urgency, where you have to reach a toilet within seconds or a few minutes.
- Passive leakage, which you only notice afterwards.
Severity ranges from mild symptoms to a condition that governs daily life and makes it hard to leave home. 1
Common causes
- Damage to the sphincter, for example after childbirth or earlier anal surgery.
- Constipation with overflow, where loose stool runs around a hard plug.
- Loose stool from other causes, including irritable bowel.
- Medication, diabetes and neurological disease affecting nerves and muscles.
- Age and a weakened pelvic floor.
Examination
The conversation matters most. A diary of accidents, stool consistency, urgency and medication gives a clear picture of the type and severity. The doctor looks at the skin around the anus and performs an ordinary rectal examination, often supplemented by endoscopy of the lower bowel if there is bleeding or a changed bowel pattern. Further tests, such as measuring sphincter function or ultrasound of the sphincter, take place in a specialised setting and are chosen according to the findings. 1
Treatment and referral
Treatment is tailored to the cause, type and severity. Options may include firming up the stool, treating constipation, adjusting medication or planning bowel emptying. Pelvic floor training may be included, possibly with biofeedback. If symptoms remain severe, specialised options are available and are managed in a specialist department, often surgical or gynaecological. 1, 2, 3
Contact the clinic to clarify whether your referral belongs here.
When it needs to move faster
Contact a doctor without waiting if there is also rectal bleeding, unexplained weight loss, a persistently changed bowel pattern, or if the symptoms came on suddenly together with weakness, altered sensation or bladder problems. See also blood in the stool.
What you can do yourself
- Keep a diary for a week of accidents, consistency and urgency, and bring it to the consultation.
- Treat constipation so you avoid overflow. See constipation.
- Try regular meals and note which foods loosen your stool.
- Empty your bowel calmly, without hard straining.
Sources
Contact and appointments
Online booking is not available. Please call the clinic or ask your GP for a referral, so we can find the right appointment.
If you are in health insurance group 1 and have a valid referral from your GP, the examinations and treatments covered by the clinic's public health agreement are covered by the Danish public health insurance, so you pay nothing for them yourself. If you are in health insurance group 2, there is usually a small co-payment under the health insurance rules. If you are paying yourself, contact the clinic for a price.
Call the clinic
+45 39 64 01 25
Phone hours
Phone hours: Mon–Thu 09:00–12:00
Address
Hans Edvard Teglers Vej 9, 1st floor · 2920 Charlottenlund
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Contact information
- Hans Edvard Teglers Vej 9, 1st floor · 2920 Charlottenlund
- +45 39 64 01 25
- mail@kirurgen.dk
- Phone hours: Mon–Thu 09:00–12:00
For referring physicians
Provider number: 215430