Medical Questions » Anal Problems Questions » Question No. 54
| Question: | My mother is demented in a nursing home and is now incontinent of faeces and the smell around her is appalling. Is there anything that can be done for her? |
| Answer: | Incontinence is the inability to control the discharge of body waste products. Incontinence of faeces takes two forms. There are those patients who are aware of passing a small amount of faeces through the anus but are physically incapable of stopping it, and there are those who are not aware of passing the faeces but could have stopped it if they had been aware.
The first group includes patients with severe diarrhoea (eg. gastroenteritis), women after childbirth when the anal canal may be torn, and patients who have had operations on the anus (eg. dilation for an anal tear). In these cases, the condition causine the incontinence is usuallv of short duration and may be treatable. It is a considerable inconvenience when the incontinence occurs, but it is rarely a long-term problem.
The sadder and more difficult situation occurs with those who are not sufficiently aware of their own body to know that they are soiling themselves. This includes patients who are in a coma or unconscious (because of injury or disease), cases of paralysis of the lower half of the body (paraplegics and quadriplegics), mentally deranged people, the confused elderly (eg. advanced Alzheimer' s disease), and those with subnormal mentality. Unfortunately, this is the situation with your mother, and most of these cases cannot be cured. The wearing of nappies and use of protective sheeting in beds must become routine.
Careful attention by attendants to hygiene and cleanliness is essential to avoid rashes and sores developing on the buttocks and around the anus. This will also help any odour problems. |
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