Abstract: Objective:To investigate the clinical value of multidisciplinary team (MDT) assessment for chronic constipation.
Methods:The clinical characteristics of 346 patients with chronic constipation who were admitted to the Third Peolep′s Hospital of Hangzhou from January 2010 to December 2013 were multidisciplinarily assessed. The multidisciplinary team was involved surgeons from the department of colorectal surgery, urology, gynecology, psychiatry and psychology, and tools including questionnaires, defecography, anorectal manometry, colon transit study, urodynamic tests, gynecological examination were applied in the study. The measurement data with normal distribution were presented as ±s, the comparison between groups was analyzed using the ANOVA, and the count data were analyzed using the chisquare test.
Results:Three hundred and fortysix patients who met criteria of this research were selected, including 86 males and 260 females with the ratio of 1〖DK〗∶3; the mean age was (55±11)years. Of the 346 patients, slow transit constipation accounted for 7.52%(26/346), defecatory disorder for 60.98%(211/346), and mixed constipation for 31.50%(109/346). A total of 93.85% female patients (244/260) had anterior rectocele, 75.43%(261/346) patients had internal rectal mucosal prolapse, 66.76%(231/346) patients had perineum descending, 23.99%(83/346) had achalasia or inappropriate contraction of internal anal sphincter, 18.79%(65/346) had puborectalis rectocele muscle thickening, 5.49%(19/346) had rectal prolapse. A total of 82.37%(285/346) patients were involved in other subjects than colorectal surgery. A total of 28.61%(99/346) patients presented with urinary symptoms, including 65 cases with stress urinary incontinence, 23 cases with unstable bladder and 19 cases with bladder neck obstruction (some patients had multiple urological systoms). The incidence of reproductive organ prolapse in female patients was 31.92% (83/260), the incidence of uterine prolapse and anterior vaginal prolapse were 26.15%(68/260) and 29.23%(76/260), respectively. Patients with anxiety and/or depression accounted for 36.13%(125/346). The male and female patients of slow transit constipation, defecatory constipation and mixed constipation were 10 vs 16, 30 vs 79, 46 vs 165, respectively, the age was 60±12, 56±11, 52±10, showing no significant differences (χ²=4.046, F=2.877, P>0.05). In the three kinds of constipation, patients with urinary diseases accounted for 26.92%(7/26), 26.61%(29/109) and 29.86%(63/211), patients with gynecological diseases accounted for 11.54%(3/26), 20.18%(22/109), 27.49%(58/211), patients with psychological diseases accounted for 38.46%(10/26), 39.45%(43/109), 34.12%(72/211), respectively, showing no significant difference (χ²=4.090, P>0.05).
Conclusion:MDT assessment for patients with chronic constipation can reflect comprehensively clinical characteristics of chronic constipation, therefore multidisciplinary team should be emphasized in clinical diagnosis and treatment of chronic constipation.