Cloaca and Constipation
Question: Our daughter was born with cloaca; what can we do to "even out" the frequency of her bowel movements?
Our daughter, who was born with cloaca, is now 16-months-old and doing well. Her stool frequency varies from five to seven a day, but then she has two to three days without a bowel movement.
In addition, she doesn't expel her stools all the way out of her anus. She does not require special foods and we make sure that she has a very balanced diet. What can we do to "even out" the frequency of her bowel movements?
Answer: What you describe is a problem of constipation.
What you describe is a problem of constipation. Even when your daughter has many bowel movements in a day, she is still constipated because she does not empty her rectum completely.
Give her foods you know have a laxative effect. If that is still not enough to help her empty her rectum completely, try a laxative. Keep her on a diet of three meals a day and maintain her diet, as regulated as possible, to try to decrease the number of bowel movements.
If she does not respond to these measures, she will need an evaluation with an x-ray film and more aggressive treatment. Untreated constipation can lead to a dilated colon, which leads to more constipation, creating a vicious cycle. Eventually this can result in pseudoincontinence.
For more information or to request an appointment, please contact the Colorectal Center at Cincinnati Children's.
