ABSTRACT
There are man/theories concerning the aetiology of encopresis and in a comprehensive review Bellmam mentions psychological problems, social conditions, immaturity, vulnerability and multifactorial causations. Aggression and bowel negativism are described by P. Pinkerton. As no unity exists concerning the aetiology of encopresis, it is not surprising to find many different treatment approaches to this problem. Psychotherapy has enjoyed particular popularity but there is a paucity of published results. The children suffering with encopresis in this series had no perception of the gastro-ileal or gastro-colic reflexes and could exercise no control over their bowel actions. The treatment was designed to associate these reflexes with the toilet situation even though the reflexes were not initially experienced. Conditioned gastro-ileal reflex training was successfully used to treat 92 per cent of a series of 24 children suffering from childhood encopresis. It is suggested that the success rate arises from the combination of physiological and psychological principles.
