Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercise for Paediatric Functional Constipation

Introduction: Functional constipation (FC) is one of the most common gastrointestinal problems among children. This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of pelvic floor muscle exercise on treatment of FC. Materials and Methods: In this study which was conducted in Children's Medical Center, children with a diagnosis of FC (aged 4-18 y) who did not respond to medical treatment, performed sessions of pelvic floor muscle exercise at home twice a day for 8 wk. Frequency of defecation, overall improvement of constipation, stool withholding, painful defecation and stool consistency were measured at the final week of the intervention compared to baseline. Results: Forty children (16 males, 24 females mean age 5.6 +/- 1.03 y) completed the 8-wk exercise program. Subjective overall improvement of the symptoms was present in 36 patients (90%). The changes in stool frequency, stool diameter and consistency were statistically significant. However, there were no statistically significant differences in the stool withholding, fecal impaction, fecal incontinence and painful defecation. Conclusion: Pelvic floor muscle exercise is an effective non-pharmacologic treatment for Paediatric FC.