Electrical stimulation, biofeedback, and other rehabilitative techniques

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to describe rehabilitative techniques and their clinical impacts on fecal incontinence and obstructed defecation. Anal electric stimulation, biofeedback, pelvic floor muscle training, and sensory retraining have been used to treat the symptoms of people with these fecal disorders. Many patients may be cured and their quality of life improves. Moreover, rehabilitation offers a harmless mode for identifying those “nonresponder patients” who should be next in line for more invasive and expensive therapeutic procedures (sacral neuromodulation, surgery).