TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Anal Incontinence A1 - Santoro, Giulio Aniello A1 - Sultan, Abdul H. A2 - Rogers, Rebecca G. A2 - Sung, Vivian W. A2 - Iglesia, Cheryl B. A2 - Thakar, Ranee PY - 2014 T2 - Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery: Clinical Practice and Surgical Atlas AB - Anal incontinence (AI) is defined as the involuntary loss of flatus, liquid, or stool that is a social and hygienic problem.1 It remains a complex and poorly understood condition with a multifactorial etiology. Several mechanisms, either alone or in combination, produce symptoms of AI: (a) consistency and amount of stool (eg, diarrhea), (b) damage to the mucosa of the colon and rectum (eg, colitis), (c) neurologic factors (eg, diabetes, Parkinson disease), (d) miscellaneous (eg, congenital disorders, rectocele, etc), and (e) injuries to the anal sphincter and pelvic floor muscles. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/10/10 UR - obgyn.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1105832614 ER -