Dr. Keith Chapple

Evaluation and Traditional Management of Fecal Incontinence

Fecal incontinence is a devastating problem reported to occur at least once annually in up to 20% of adults. The success rates of traditional procedures such as sphincteroplasty have proven disappointing. Accordingly, many newer treatments have been enthusiastically introduced and disappointingly abandoned. The one exception to this pattern is sacral neuromodulation which, unlike all other treatment in which the efficacy wanes with time, shows sustained long-term improvement. In this program, which is the first of a three-part series, the etiology and evaluation, and traditional surgical treatments for fecal incontinence will be discussed. The program will then review the results and techniques of the operation which has become the global preference for fecal incontinence: sacral neuromodulation.

With Axonics