After analyzing your symptoms, medical history, and performing a physical examination, your doctor will order a series of tests to corroborate the diagnosis and find out the causes of constipation, including:
- Blood tests: rule out the presence of hypothyroidism.
- Sigmoidoscopy: examines the rectum and colon.
- Colonoscopy: assesses the entire colon.
- Anorectal manometry: checks how well the rectal muscles work.
- Balloon ejection: observes and records the time it takes for your rectum to propel a water balloon out.
- Colonic transit: it observes, through a digital camera, how food moves through your colon identifying any functional problem.
- Defecography: evaluates the functions and condition of the muscles.
Treatment for constipation involves making significant dietary and lifestyle changes to speed the movement of stool through the intestines, including drinking more fluids, taking fiber supplements, and using laxatives, enemas, or rectal suppositories.
In ABC Medical Center’s Internal Medicine Department, we offer health care services with the highest quality and safety, from the prevention, diagnosis, timely treatment, and monitoring of infectious, respiratory, endocrinological, dermatological, rheumatic, nephrological, gastrointestinal, and hematological pathologies of both chronic-degenerative diseases and acute conditions, through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary model.