Description
Anorectal manometry is indicated in patients with constipation, incontinence and as a study prior to surgery for hemorrhoids or fissures.
Prior to the procedure, an evacuating enema is placed 2 hours before the test.
The test lasts approximately 20 minutes. The physician inserts thin probes through the anus, which are connected to a machine that records the different pressures.
More about ano-rectal manometry
During the defecatory maneuver there may be a dysfunction consisting basically of defective or absent relaxation of the sphincter of the anus (called “expulsive disorder due to paradoxical contraction of the sphincter – anismus”).
This disorder may cause an altered bowel rhythm, distal constipation, tenesmus or a sensation of incomplete evacuation, and may also exacerbate the appearance of hemorrhoids, anal fissures or refractory anal pain.
Anorectal manometry is a safe and useful diagnostic procedure for the study of anorectal function (anal sphincter pressures, rectal sensitivity, distensibility, neural reflexes, sphincter relaxation during expulsive maneuvers).
