ABSTRACT

Patients with ABI often present, from the outset, problems with intestinal function such as anal incontinence and difficulty in defecating, in a clinical picture termed Neurogenic Bowel Dysfunction. The aims of the study are to evaluate the incidence of neurogenic anal incontinence at the beginning and end of the intensive rehabilitation period after ABI due to trauma, haemorrhage, anoxia or neoplasm; to evaluate any correlation between its progression and the duration of coma, site of the encephalic lesion, occurrence of paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity, presence of diffuse axonal injury (DAI), duration of tube feeding, duration of hospitalisation and discharge setting, incidence since the acute event of healthcare-related infections, in particular Clostridium Difficile infections, and concomitant urinary incontinence when the patient is discharged. At discharge from Neurorehabilitation Unit, only the presence of frontal lesions seems to correlate with persistent faecal incontinence.