ABSTRACT
Strangely, for a problem that is so common, an exact definition of constipation is not entirely straightforward. Constipation is not a disease. Rather, it is a symptom reported by patients who believe that there is a disturbance of the events they perceive to comprise normal defecation. As such, patients may associate a wide variety of symptoms with the term constipation, including those apparently more related to defecation e.g. infrequency of bowel action, loss of urge to defecate, straining, incomplete, painful or unsuccessful evacuation, or more diverse symptoms such as abdominal and back pain, bloating or nausea. A common approach to classifying constipation divides patients based on cause. This system yields patients in whom an obvious local or systemic cause is evident and those in whom the problem is considered to arise from colonic neuromuscular dysfunction. In the absence of any universally agreed single definition of constipation, attempts have been made to apply a variety of more objective symptom criteria.
