Chronic Constipation/Megacolon

Chronic constipation/megacolon is a pathologic condition that predominantly affects female patients; its underlying pathologic mechanisms can be either neurological or muscular.

Symptoms

• Patients present with slow transit and a long history of constipation (chronic constipation) that is often severe enough to require colectomy.
• An underlying inflammatory neuropathy may be responsible for chronic constipation/megacolon. Typical examples are Chagas’ and paraneoplastic diseases.

Also see: Enteric Ganglionitis for neurological features