Chronic Functional Constipation

Jeong Eun Shin; Kyung Sik Park; Kwangwoo Nam

doi:10.4166/kjg.2019.73.2.92

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Shin, Park, and Nam: Chronic Functional Constipation

Special Review

Introduction to the Helpful Latest Guidelines for the Management of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders

The Korean Journal of Gastroenterology 2019; 73(2): 92-98.

Published online: 26 February 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4166/kjg.2019.73.2.92

Chronic Functional Constipation

Jeong Eun Shin, Kyung Sik Park¹

, Kwangwoo Nam

Department of Internal Medicine, Dankook University College of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea.

¹Department of Internal Medicine, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.

Correspondence to: Kyung Sik Park, Department of Internal Medicine, Keimyung University School of Medicine, 56 Dalseong-ro, Jung-gu, Daegu 41931, Korea. Tel: +82-53-250-7088, Fax: +82-53-250-7442, seenae99@dsmc.or.kr

Received 18 January 2019 Revised 29 January 2019 Accepted 2 February 2019

Korean Society of Gastroenterology

(open-access):

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Constipation is a common functional problem of the digestive system and may occur secondary to diet, drugs, endocrine diseases, metabolic diseases, neurological diseases, psychiatric disorders, or gastrointestinal obstruction. When there is no secondary cause, constipation is diagnosed as functional constipation. The first steps that should be taken to relieve symptoms are diet and lifestyle modifications, and if unsuccessful, laxative therapy should be initiated. If a patient does not respond to laxative therapy, diagnostic anorectal physiological tests are performed, though they are not routinely recommended. However, these tests may be considered earlier in patients strongly suspected to have a defecatory disorder. The revised guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of chronic constipation will undoubtedly aid the individualized management of chronic constipation in clinical practice.

Keywords: Constipation, Laxatives, Digital rectal examination, Anorectal function test, Biofeedback

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Clinical Applications of Commonly Used Laxatives3

◯, most favorable; ⬤, useful; △, occasional; ▲, short-term use; X, no use.

Notes

^{Financial support} None.

^{Conflict of interest} None.

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ORCID iDs: Kyung Sik Park
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0721-0364
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