MECHANO-PHYSIOLOGICAL APPROACH: ANORECTAL FUNCTION & CLASS OF DEFECATORY DISORDE

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The purpose of this research is study the movement of the intestines and pressure changes in the rectum and abdominal muscles in order to understand the physiology of defecation (making a bowel movement). Constipation is a very common condition, reported by 16-20% of people surveyed. The methods currently used for the assessment of the constipation are not satisfactory. Better understanding of the process may help to design better treatments and diagnostic tests. The study involves two tests, anorectal manometry and defecography, which are both approved by FDA and used as standard diagnostic tests. The only new, additional part would be the performance of the two tests simultaneously which will allow us to combine recordings of the pressure (manometry) and fluoroscopy images on videotape and to analyze the participation of the certain groups of muscles in the process of defecation in detail. The study will be performed in healthy volunteers and patients referred for defecography (the test to study the process of defecation) by their physicians.