Korean J Gastroenterol.  1999 Aug;34(2):197-204.

Factors Associated with Poor Response to Biofeedback Therapy for Patients with Anismus

• Kim YH
• Choi KW
• Rhee JC
• Paik SW
• Kim JJ
• Koh KC
• Rhee PL
• Choi MS
• Son HJ

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Biofeedback is known as the most effective treatment for patients with anismus, but it is ineffective in some patients. Furthermore, little has been known about factors to predict response to biofeedback. The aim of this study was to evaluate the factors associated with poor response to biofeedback.
METHODS
Biofeedback was performed for 45 consecutive patients with anismus. Demographics, symptoms, and parameters of anorectal physiologic tests were compared between responders (in whom bowel frequency increased up to three times or more a week after biofeedback) and non-responders (in whom bowel frequency remained less than three times a week).
RESULTS
Thirty-one patients (68.9%) responded to biofeedback and fourteen (31.1%) did not. Anal canal length was longer in non-responders than in responders (4.53+/-0.50 cm vs. 4.08+/-0.56 cm, p=0.02) and rectal maximum tolerable volume (MTV) was larger in non-responders than in responders (361+/-87 ml vs. 302+/-69 ml, p=0.02). On multivariate analysis, anal canal length and rectal MTV were the factors that show significant difference between responders and non-responders (p=0.027 and p=0.034, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS
Our results showed that a long anal canal and increased rectal MTV are associated with poor response to biofeedback for patients with anismus.

Keyword

Anismus; Biofeedback; Predictive factor; Poor response

MeSH Terms

Anal Canal
Biofeedback, Psychology*
Demography
Humans
Multivariate Analysis