fecal urgency

{{short description|Medical symptom where there is a sudden, strong need to defecate}}

{{Infobox medical condition

| name = Fecal urgency

| field = Gastroenterology, colorectal surgery

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Fecal urgency (also termed bowel urgency, rectal urgency or defecation urgency) is a medical symptom where there is a sudden, strong need to defecate that is difficult to defer.{{cite journal | doi=10.1007/s00192-016-3140-3 | title=An International Urogynecological Association (IUGA)/International Continence Society (ICS) joint report on the terminology for female anorectal dysfunction | date=2017 | last1=Sultan | first1=Abdul H. | last2=Monga | first2=Ash | last3=Lee | first3=Joseph | last4=Emmanuel | first4=Anton | last5=Norton | first5=Christine | last6=Santoro | first6=Giulio | last7=Hull | first7=Tracy | last8=Berghmans | first8=Bary | last9=Brody | first9=Stuart | last10=Haylen | first10=Bernard T. | journal=International Urogynecology Journal | volume=28 | issue=1 | pages=5–31 | pmid=27774569 | url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1527109/ }} The difference between fecal urgency and urge fecal incontinence is that in fecal urgency the person usually has enough time to reach a toilet and there is no involuntary leakage of stool. In urge fecal incontinence, there is a sudden, strong urge to defecate (fecal urgency), and the person has little or no ability to prevent defecation.{{cite book |last1=Doughty |first1=DB |title=Urinary & Fecal Incontinence: Current Management Concepts |date=15 December 2005 |publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences |isbn=978-0-323-03135-6 |page=457 |language=en}} Fecal urgency warning time is the length of time from the first sensation of need to defecate until voluntary defecation or incontinence.

Fecal urgency is associated with conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, pelvic floor dysfunction, and previous radiotherapy directed at the pelvis or rectum.{{cite journal |last1=Rangan |first1=V |last2=Mitsuhashi |first2=S |last3=Singh |first3=P |last4=Ballou |first4=S |last5=Hirsch |first5=W |last6=Sommers |first6=T |last7=Nee |first7=J |last8=Iturrino |first8=J |last9=Lembo |first9=A |title=Risk Factors for Fecal Urgency Among Individuals With and Without Diarrhea, Based on Data From the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey |journal=Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology |date=September 2018 |volume=16 |issue=9 |pages=1450–1458.e2 |doi=10.1016/j.cgh.2018.02.020 |pmid=29474972 |pmc=6098738}} It may also occur after certain surgical procedures such as stapled trans-anal rectal resection.{{cite journal |last1=Ripamonti |first1=L |last2=Guttadauro |first2=A |last3=Lo Bianco |first3=G |last4=Rennis |first4=M |last5=Maternini |first5=M |last6=Cioffi |first6=G |last7=Chiarelli |first7=M |last8=De Simone |first8=M |last9=Cioffi |first9=U |last10=Gabrielli |first10=F |title=Stapled Transanal Rectal Resection (Starr) in the Treatment of Obstructed Defecation: A Systematic Review. |journal=Frontiers in Surgery |date=2022 |volume=9 |pages=790287 |doi=10.3389/fsurg.2022.790287 |doi-access=free |pmid=35237648|pmc=8882820 }}