Ann Rehabil Med.  2011 Jun;35(3):337-343. 10.5535/arm.2011.35.3.337.

Bowel Function in Acute Stroke Patients

• Yi JH
• Chun MH
• Kim BR
• Han EY
• Park JY

• KMID: 2266852
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5535/arm.2011.35.3.337

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To investigate factors related to bowel function and colon motility in acute stroke patients. METHOD: Fifty-one stroke patients (29 males, mean age 63.4+/-13.6 years, onset 13.4+/-4.8 days) were recruited and divided into two groups: constipation (n=25) and non-constipation (n=26) groups. We evaluated the amount of intake, voiding function, concomitant swallowing problem and colon transit time (CTT) using radio-opaque markers for ascending, descending and rectosigmoid colons. The Adapted Patient Evaluation Conference System (APEC), Korean version of Modified Bathel Index (K-MBI) and Motricity Index (MI) were evaluated.
RESULTS
The constipation group showed significantly prolonged CTT of ascending, descending and entire colon (p<0.05) and more severe swallowing problems (p=0.048). The APEC scale (2.65+/-1.44 vs 1.52+/-0.92, p=0.001), K-MBI scores (59.4+/-14.4 vs 28.0+/-24.3, p<0.001) and MI scores (69.1+/-22.3 vs 46.8+/-25.9, p=0.001) of the constipation group were significantly lower compared to the non-constipation group.
CONCLUSION
Our study demonstrated that bowel function in acute stroke patients was associated with functional status and swallowing function, indicating the need for intensive functional training in post-stroke constipation patients.

Keyword

Stroke; Constipation; Bowel function

MeSH Terms

Colon
Constipation
Deglutition
Humans
Male
Stroke

Figure

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  Fig. 1 The colon transit time (CTT) of the twenty six patients was measured using radio-opaque markers for the ascending (aCTT), descending (dCTT), rectosigmoid (rsCTT) colons as well as for the entire colon (tCTT). After 4 days, the spinal processes and imaginary lines from the 5th lumbar vertebra to the left iliac crest and pelvic outlet served as landmarks.

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  Fig. 2 Comparison of colon transit time (CTT) between non-constipation and constipation patients. Values are ex pressed as means±standard deviation. (A) Ascending CTT. (B) Descending CTT. (C) Rectosigmoid CTT. (D) Total CTT. CTTs of ascending, descending and total colon in the constipation patients were significantly prolonged. There was no significant difference in CTT in rectosigmoid colon. *p<0.05 by Mann-Whitney U test.

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