Ever wondered what four months’ worth of stool looks like backed up in the body?
Well, now you can see – with scan images showing the disturbing state a 25-year-old woman’s colon was in after suffering a bout of chronic constipation.
The unnamed patient went to hospital with stomach pains and a distended abdomen after struggling with bowel movements for months.
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Upon examination, doctors found the lower part of her stomach “felt like clay”, and when pressing, medics found they could “leave indents” in her abdomen due to the huge stool blockage.
A CT scan found a huge build-up inside the patient, as reported by Need To Know.
The scan also found she had a 15cm-diameter redundant sigmoid colon – an abnormally long colon that folds and twists within the abdominal cavity, and can cause constipation.
The colon was stretched out and had a large amount of stool in it, all along the GI tract.
The woman opted to have manual disimpaction – a procedure where hardened stool is manually broken up and removed – which had to be repeated multiple times.
The doctor noted her colon was “markedly dilated” and the stool “resembled dense/moist clay”.
She was given a pure liquid diet throughout her stay, which saw doctors relieve her of 21 stools.
By the time she was discharged, she had dropped from 128.9lbs to 119lbs – nearly 10lbs of weight.
The patient – who is believed to have been treated in New York, US – had a history of chronic constipation, going back to when she was first toilet trained as a young child.
She had previously had treatment for the condition, including weekly enemas and daily stool softeners, as well as attending hospital for manual removal under anaesthesia.
While her constipation was improving, the woman had stopped taking Miralax medication recommended by doctors – which saw the condition return with a vengeance.
By the time she came to the emergency room, she had been experiencing pain for several weeks, and was not responding to over-the-counter medications, laxatives or enemas.
After discharge, she was scheduled to follow up with Gastroenterology, but failed to attend the procedure.
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