Re: Hirschsprung's disease

Hirschprung's disease is the result of a congenital birth defect, not something acquired later in life or caused by chronic constipation. Chronic constipation results from Hirschprung's, not the other way around.

I have treated a number of patients with this condition, mostly young children. The only way it can be positively diagnosed is by a biopsy of the descending colon. The cause is a total absence of muscular function in a short segment of colon, usually above the sigmoid flexure and below the splenic flexure.

Peristalsis moves the colonic waste normally through most of the length of the colon until it reaches the defective section. At this point the movement stalls, the defective section swells and if not removed by an enema, hardens and can become a severe fecal impaction. The muscular tone of the defective section cannot be strengthened because no muscles exist. They never developed.

In severe cases the only way to treat it is the remove the defective 1 - 3 inch section of the colon and stitch the good sections back together. In less severe cases it can be managed by daily stool softeners and frequent salt solution cleansing enemas.

Valerie