Anal fissure epidemiology and related diseases in children

Abstract

INTRODUCTION[|]After an anal fissure (AF) started, the patients avoid defecation due to their severe anal pain even if they have diarrhea, which is more evident in constipated patients. The type of functional disease that causes AF is not limited to constipation or diarrhea. This study aimed to reveal the prevalence and the clinical importance of the diseases associated with AF in all childhood age groups with the different clinical picture.[¤]METHODS[|]The age, sex, and accompanying AF-related diseases of the patients were collected from the database. From 7406 patients, six distinct disease groups associated with AF were identified: 1. constipation, 2. anal incontinence, 3. urinary incontinence, and 4. anal incontinence with urinary incontinence, 5. infantile colic and 6. Diaper dermatitis. We determined the symptoms in the AF-related diseases and whether the AF-related symptoms after AF treatment were reduced.[¤]RESULTS[|]Of the AF-associated 728 patients of all groups one week after AF therapy, 529 (72%) had a decline in both current disease and AF-related symptoms (p<0.05, r = 0.26). The improvement in the first week after treatment had a stronger correlation than the improvement in the third week (r = 0.26 vs. 0.19).[¤]DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION[|]We have shown that AF, which was associated with constipation, anal-urinary incontinence, IC, and DD, had critical importance in the targeted treatment of the relating illness. We recommend keeping in mind whether the AF present while planning the treatment of these six functional disorders.[¤]

Keywords

• anal fissure
• epidemiology
• child
• infant