Fecal Incontinence:

Fecal incontinence (FI) is the inability to control the passage or the loss of gas, liquid and/or solid stool.

• Recently, National Institutes of Health-funded researchers found that one in 12 Americans (18 million)was estimated to have fecal incontinence, ranging from 3% in adults 20 to 29 years old to 15% among adults 70 years and older 56 (others estimate an FI prevalence of closer to one in 10 adult Americans 57).
• One out of ten women in the general population has fecal incontinence, with one in fifteen of these women suffering from moderate to severe symptoms. 25
• It is suggested that 2.2 % of all women that have delivered one or more children experience fecal incontinence. 26
• Seven percent of healthy people 65 years and older experience fecal incontinence, and 23% of stroke patients experience it. 25
• 33% of elderly people at home or in a hospital experience bowel control problems. 25
• Vaginal delivery with the assistance of forceps has been shown to be a cause of clinically significant pelvic floor dysfunction, which can lead to fecal incontinence. 27
• In a published study of sacral nerve stimulation to treat urge fecal incontinence, 83% of patients experienced a 50% or greater improvement in their fecal incontinence episodes. Continence was achieved in 41% of patients in this study. 49, 51. As a treatment option for fecal incontinence, Medtronic InterStim® Therapy was approved by the FDA in March 2011.