The Colorectal Quiz Episode 23: Hirschsprung Disease - The Soiling Patient...

Published: 2021-12-13

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Inside this episode

Kai, the Library's AI content creator, listened to this episode and mapped who's speaking, the chapters, key claims, and cases. Every item links to the exact moment in the recording.

AI-enriched

Who's speaking

Amanda Jensen — host
Doctor Levitt — guest
Doctor Hira Ahmad — guest
Jason Fisher — guest

Chapters

0:00Introduction and Review of Episode 22 — Amanda Jensen introduces part two of the Hirschsprung soiling series, reviewing the prior episode's focus on sphincter evaluation and the need for mechanical emptying when sphincter tone or dentate line is inadequate.
2:56Dentate Line Anatomy and Clinical Significance — Jason Fisher provides detailed anatomy of the dentate line (transition from squamous to columnar epithelium, innervation for sensation of gas/liquid/solid) and explains why preservation is critical for continence. Mark Levitt adds that rectal proprioception (stretch sensation) is essential and explains why stool softeners are problematic in ARM and Hirschsprung patients.
8:39Photographic Assessment of Dentate Line Integrity — The team reviews clinical photographs showing normal dentate lines (images 1-2), completely absent dentate line (image 3), partially intact dentate line (image 4), and severe cases with no dentate line and patulous sphincters causing skin excoriation (images 5-6). They discuss management implications for each scenario.
17:04Motility Assessment and Management Strategy — Using contrast studies, the speakers teach how to distinguish hypomotile colons (dilated, few haustrations) from hypermotile colons (decompressed, many haustrations). They establish that treatment depends on both motility pattern and sphincter/dentate line integrity, with hypermotile patients requiring constipation followed by controlled emptying.
19:44Hypermotility Treatment Protocol — Mark Levitt presents a systematic approach to slowing hypermotile patients: skin care with cyanoacrylate barriers, proton pump inhibitors, small volume enemas, water-soluble fiber for bulk, loperamide (0.5-0.8 mg/kg/day), cholestyramine, hyoscyamine, and rarely diphenoxylate-atropine. Tincture of opium is mentioned as an option but difficult to prescribe.
22:34Botox for Non-Relaxing Sphincters and Dietary Considerations — Jason Fisher discusses using Botox to relax hypertonic sphincters in Hirschsprung patients with good pull-throughs who cannot empty, noting these patients often have 'super strong sphincters' that need training to coordinate. He emphasizes the importance of dietary management, particularly lactose sensitivity. The speakers conclude that hypermotile Hirschsprung patients are the most challenging soiling population but can be managed with systematic approaches.

Key claims

1:23The three components of continence are quality of sphincters, quality of dentate line, and motility — Doctor Levitt
1:30In Hirschsprung disease, two sphincters are of concern: the external sphincter (under voluntary control) and the internal sphincter (which tends not to relax due to absent rectoanal inhibitory reflex) — Doctor Levitt
1:57Patients who have voluntary bowel movements during the day but accidents at night indicate working external sphincters but non-functioning internal sphincters — Doctor Levitt
3:12The dentate line represents the transition from squamous epithelium to columnar epithelium, occurring about 2/3 of the way up the anal canal — Jason Fisher
3:54The dentate line region contains nerves that provide sensation to distinguish gas, liquid, and solid stool and determine how hard and how long to squeeze — Jason Fisher
4:58Proprioception from rectal stretch is the signal that stool is accumulating and triggers external sphincter control — Doctor Levitt
5:43In anorectal malformation patients, giving stool softeners is problematic because patients never feel the stretch and loose stool just flows out — Doctor Levitt
5:58ARM and Hirschsprung patients are better off with bulk stool kicked out by a laxative than stool softener that slowly oozes out — Doctor Levitt
6:27The ability to sense stool in the rectum or neorectum region is critical for success in children with anorectal malformation, Hirschsprung disease, or spinal conditions — Jason Fisher
6:45Making stool too soft or loose puts patients on the edge of control over the edge into incontinence — Jason Fisher
7:47Loose stool is hard to control even with completely normal continence because you cannot detect it reliably without bulk — Doctor Levitt
8:19Patients with Hirschsprung disease are dependent on stretch sensation because their rectum has been removed and the sigmoid has taken over that job — Doctor Levitt
10:44Patients with missing dentate line can develop bowel control if their sphincters are working, but they will be very sensitive to loose stool — Doctor Levitt
11:16A missing dentate line scenario is similar to an anorectal malformation anastomosis (rectum or colon mucosa to skin) — Jason Fisher
19:10Hirschsprung is an obstruction problem, but getting patients clean afterward is a separate and independent challenge — Doctor Levitt
19:22The vast majority of Hirschsprung patients get clean on their own and have great success stories — Doctor Levitt
20:00Cyanoacrylate-based barriers are very helpful for skin care in hypermotile patients — Doctor Levitt
20:15Wound care improvements for perineums in Hirschsprung disease and hypermotile patients have dramatically improved over the last 4-5 years — Doctor Levitt
20:27Proton pump inhibitors help reduce the acidity of stool in hypermotile patients — Doctor Levitt
20:52Water-soluble fiber produces bulk stool, which is preferred over water-insoluble fiber — Doctor Levitt
21:11Loperamide dosing is 0.5 to 0.8 mg per kilogram divided daily — Doctor Levitt
21:27Hyoscyamine (Levsin) is dosed at 0.125 mg tablet every six hours — Doctor Levitt
21:40Diphenoxylate atropine (Lomotil) is almost never used because it has cardiac side effects — Doctor Levitt
21:58Tincture of opium is useful but difficult to prescribe because it is a controlled substance — Doctor Levitt
22:42Some Hirschsprung patients with good operations have super strong sphincters that need relaxation to allow stool passage until they learn proper coordination — Jason Fisher
23:10Anorectal manometry can provide objective data showing resting pressures are usually on the higher end of normal in these patients — Jason Fisher
23:43Patients with Hirschsprung disease are very sensitive to some foods, particularly lactose — Jason Fisher
24:49Of all soiling patient groups (anorectal malformation, Hirschsprung, functional constipation, and spinal), Hirschsprung is the hardest group because the sphincters are so troublesome — Doctor Levitt
25:09Within Hirschsprung patients, hypermotile patients are much harder to manage than hypomotile patients — Doctor Levitt
25:14With systematic strategies, many Hirschsprung patients who were told they could never be clean can achieve continence — Doctor Levitt

Open questions

What is the optimal timing and dosing protocol for Botox in Hirschsprung patients with hypertonic sphincters?
Which specific foods beyond lactose are most problematic for Hirschsprung patients?
What is the long-term outcome of sphincter tightening procedures in patients with patulous sphincters and no dentate line?

This episode was analyzed and enriched by Kai, the Library's AI content creator. Every item links to the moment it comes from — click a timestamp to listen in context.

Written for:

Managing Continence After Hirschsprung Pull-Through: When the Obstruction Is Fixed but Soiling Persists

The episode's main topic retold as a plain-language walkthrough — what it is, why it matters, and what the speakers concluded. Written by Kai from the episode transcript and reviewed before publishing.

For the care team · Explainer · AI-written, human-reviewed

Why This Problem Exists

Hirschsprung disease is fundamentally an obstruction problem — aganglionic bowel that cannot propel stool. The pull-through operation solves that obstruction by removing the affected segment and bringing healthy colon down to the anus. But solving the obstruction does not automatically solve continence 19:10. Most Hirschsprung patients achieve continence without intervention 19:22, but a subset — particularly those with hypermotility or compromised anatomy — require systematic management that many referring clinicians do not encounter outside specialized colorectal centers.

The Core Problem

Continence after Hirschsprung repair depends on three independent components: sphincter function, dentate line integrity, and colonic motility 1:23. Each can fail independently. The sphincter assessment involves both the external sphincter (under voluntary control) and the internal sphincter, which in Hirschsprung patients lacks the normal rectoanal inhibitory reflex and tends not to relax 1:30. A patient who has voluntary bowel movements during the day but soils at night demonstrates intact external sphincters but non-functioning internal sphincters — the external sphincter works when the patient is awake to control it, but the internal sphincter fails to maintain tone during sleep 1:57.

The dentate line — the transition from squamous to columnar epithelium about two-thirds up the anal canal — contains the nerve endings that distinguish gas from liquid from solid and determine how hard and how long to squeeze 3:12 3:54. If the pull-through dissection starts too low, this sensory apparatus is lost. Patients with missing dentate lines can still achieve continence if their sphincters are intact, but they become exquisitely sensitive to loose stool because they have lost the fine discrimination that allows someone with normal anatomy to "fart with confidence" 10:44[q1].

The third component is motility. Hirschsprung patients fall into two groups: hypomotile (dilated colon, few haustrations on contrast study) and hypermotile (decompressed colon, many haustrations). Hypermotile patients are far more difficult to manage 25:09.

How the Approach Works

The Counterintuitive Strategy for Hypermotility

The management principle for hypermotile Hirschsprung patients runs against instinct: "It sounds counterintuitive, but at least the way I treat these patients, I constipate them, and then I empty them" [q2]. The logic is that loose, frequent stool overwhelms even intact continence mechanisms. Rectal stretch sensation — the proprioceptive signal that stool is accumulating and it is time to find a bathroom — requires bulk 4:58. Stool softeners, the reflex prescription for many bowel problems, are particularly problematic in this population because patients never feel the stretch; loose stool simply flows out 5:43. Bulk stool kicked out by a laxative is controllable; stool softener that slowly oozes is not 5:58.

Once the patient is constipated into a predictable pattern, the next question is whether they can empty on their own with continence, or whether they need mechanical assistance (enemas) to maintain social continence. That decision depends on sphincter and dentate line integrity.

Slowing the Hypermotile Colon

The pharmacologic approach is stepwise. Skin care with cyanoacrylate-based barriers has improved dramatically in recent years and is foundational 20:00 20:15. Proton pump inhibitors reduce stool acidity 20:27. Water-soluble fiber (not water-insoluble) produces bulk 20:52. Loperamide is dosed aggressively — 0.5 to 0.8 mg/kg/day divided 21:11. If that fails, cholestyramine is added, then hyoscyamine 0.125 mg every six hours 21:27. Diphenoxylate-atropine (Lomotil) is rarely used due to cardiac side effects 21:40. Tincture of opium is effective but difficult to prescribe as a controlled substance 21:58.

The Role of Botox

Some Hirschsprung patients with anatomically successful pull-throughs develop paradoxically strong sphincters that will not relax to allow stool passage 22:42. Anorectal manometry typically shows resting pressures at the high end of normal 23:10. These patients are not obstructed in the traditional sense — the pull-through is patent — but they cannot coordinate sphincter relaxation with the urge to defecate. Botox serves as a training tool, temporarily relaxing the sphincter while the patient learns proper coordination.

Where Practice Is Contested

Dietary management, particularly lactose sensitivity, is recognized as important but poorly systematized 23:43. The threshold for mechanical bowel management versus continued medical optimization varies by center. The role of anorectal manometry in guiding Botox decisions is evolving.

When to Involve This Team

Refer Hirschsprung patients with persistent soiling after pull-through when first-line interventions (dietary modification, basic laxative regimens) have failed. Refer urgently if there is severe perianal excoriation from hypermotility, or if a patient who was previously continent has lost control after an intercurrent illness or dietary change. The pattern of daytime continence with nighttime soiling specifically suggests internal sphincter dysfunction and warrants subspecialty evaluation. Do not reflexively prescribe stool softeners — they often worsen the problem.

Of all soiling populations — anorectal malformation, Hirschsprung, functional constipation, spinal — Hirschsprung patients are the most challenging because of sphincter dysfunction, and within that group, hypermotile patients are the hardest 24:49 25:09. But with systematic strategies, many patients told they could never be clean can achieve continence 25:14.

Takeaways from this story

Stool softeners often worsen soiling in Hirschsprung patients by eliminating the bulk needed for stretch sensation.
Hypermotile patients require constipation first, then controlled emptying — the opposite of intuitive management.
Daytime continence with nighttime soiling indicates intact external but failed internal sphincter function.
Loperamide can be dosed aggressively (0.5-0.8 mg/kg/day) in refractory hypermotility before escalating further.
Some post-pull-through patients need Botox not for obstruction but to relax paradoxically hypertonic sphincters.

Managing the Soiling Hirschsprung Patient: Beyond the Pull-Through

The episode's teaching points arranged as a structured lesson, building from the basics up to the finer points. Written by Kai from the episode transcript and reviewed before publishing.

For trainees · Teaching arc · AI-written, human-reviewed

Continence is a three-part mechanism

The framework for evaluating any soiling patient starts with three components: sphincter quality, dentate line integrity, and motility 1:23. In Hirschsprung disease, both sphincters matter — the external sphincter under voluntary control and the internal sphincter, which typically fails to relax due to absent rectoanal inhibitory reflex 1:30. A patient who maintains continence during waking hours but soils at night demonstrates intact external sphincters but non-functioning internal sphincters 1:57. This pattern localizes the anatomic problem: voluntary control works when the patient is awake to use it, but the internal sphincter cannot maintain tone during sleep.

Why stool consistency determines success

The dentate line region — the transition from squamous to columnar epithelium about two-thirds up the anal canal — contains nerves that distinguish gas from liquid from solid and calibrate sphincter response 3:12 3:54. But even more critical is proprioception from rectal stretch, which signals stool accumulation and triggers external sphincter control 4:58. Hirschsprung patients depend entirely on this stretch sensation because their rectum has been removed and the sigmoid has assumed that role 8:19.

This is why stool softeners are problematic in anorectal malformation and Hirschsprung patients: loose stool never generates the stretch signal, so it simply flows out 5:43. These patients are better served by bulk stool expelled by a laxative than by softened stool that oozes continuously 5:58. Even patients with completely normal continence mechanisms struggle with loose stool because bulk and stretch sensation are lost 7:47. Making stool too soft pushes patients who are on the edge of control over into incontinence 6:45. Patients with missing dentate lines can develop bowel control if their sphincters work, but they remain exquisitely sensitive to loose stool 10:44.

The counterintuitive strategy for hypermotile patients

The Hirschsprung operation solves the obstruction problem; getting patients clean afterward is a separate challenge 19:10. For hypermotile patients — the hardest subset to manage — the approach sounds backward: constipate them first, then determine whether they can empty on their own or need mechanical assistance 5:58 25:09. This separates the motility problem from the continence mechanism. If sphincters are intact and the patient can generate adequate propulsion, they may achieve spontaneous continence. If not, timed mechanical evacuation maintains social continence.

The armamentarium for slowing hypermotile patients includes cyanoacrylate-based skin barriers 20:00, proton pump inhibitors to reduce stool acidity 20:27, water-soluble fiber for bulk 20:52, and loperamide at 0.5 to 0.8 mg per kilogram divided daily 21:11. Hyoscyamine (0.125 mg every six hours) provides additional slowing 21:27. Diphenoxylate atropine is avoided due to cardiac side effects 21:40. Tincture of opium is effective but difficult to prescribe as a controlled substance 21:58.

When strong sphincters become the problem

Some Hirschsprung patients with technically excellent pull-throughs develop hypertonic sphincters that prevent adequate emptying 22:42. Anorectal manometry demonstrates resting pressures at the high end of normal 23:10. These patients need temporary sphincter relaxation — not permanent weakening — to allow stool passage while they learn proper coordination. Botox serves as a training tool, giving the sphincters time to learn the coordination between external voluntary control and internal reflex relaxation.

Dietary triggers matter as well. Hirschsprung patients are particularly sensitive to certain foods, with lactose being a common culprit 23:43. Attention to diet — whether in breastfed infants or older children — can make the difference between success and ongoing struggle.

The hardest group

Among all soiling patient populations — anorectal malformation, Hirschsprung, functional constipation, and spinal conditions — Hirschsprung patients are the most challenging because the sphincters are so troublesome 24:49. Within that group, hypermotile patients are substantially harder to manage than hypomotile ones 25:09. But systematic strategies can achieve continence in many patients previously told they could never be clean 25:14. The key is knowing whether they have the potential for bowel control based on their sphincter and dentate line status, then manipulating motility to match their continence capacity.

Takeaways from this story

Day/night soiling pattern localizes the problem: intact external sphincter (voluntary) but failed internal sphincter (autonomic)
Stool softeners defeat continence in Hirschsprung—bulk stool with laxative evacuation preserves stretch sensation patients depend on
Hypermotile Hirschsprung strategy: constipate first, then determine if patient can empty spontaneously or needs mechanical assistance
Loperamide dosing: 0.5-0.8 mg/kg/day divided; hyoscyamine 0.125 mg q6h for additional slowing in hypermotile patients
Botox for post-pullthrough patients with high resting tone on manometry—trains sphincter coordination, not permanent weakening

Topic overview

This discussion addresses the management of soiling in Hirschsprung disease patients after pull-through surgery, focusing on two critical anatomic factors: dentate line integrity and sphincter function. The speakers establish that continence depends on three components—sphincter quality, dentate line preservation, and motility—and demonstrate through clinical images how to assess dentate line damage. They then address motility management, distinguishing between hypomotile patients (who may need laxatives) and hypermotile patients (who require constipating strategies, bulking agents, and medications like loperamide). The discussion emphasizes that while Hirschsprung patients are the most challenging soiling population, systematic evaluation of anatomy and motility allows most patients to achieve continence, though hypermotile patients are particularly difficult to manage.

Key takeaways

Continence in Hirschsprung depends on sphincter quality, dentate line preservation, and motility—assess all three systematically. (1:23)
Avoid stool softeners in Hirschsprung/ARM patients; bulk stool with laxatives prevents uncontrolled oozing and preserves stretch sensation. (5:43)
Hypermotile Hirschsprung patients need constipating strategies: water-soluble fiber, loperamide (0.5-0.8 mg/kg/day), and PPIs for stool acidity. (20:27)
Missing dentate line eliminates fine sensory discrimination; patients can still achieve control but are highly sensitive to loose stool. (3:54)
Hirschsprung soiling is the hardest population to manage, especially hypermotile cases, but systematic approach achieves continence in many. (24:49)

Keywords

Hirschsprung disease anorectal malformation functional constipation traveler's diarrhea enterocolitis pull-through surgery biopsy anorectal manometry Malone enema retrograde enema Botox injection contrast enema senna loperamide cholestyramine

Hashtags

#HirschsprungDisease #PediatricSurgery #BowelManagement #ColorectalSurgery

Transcript

Click "Show Transcript" to view the full text (23012 characters)

Hey there listeners, it's Amanda Jensen at Riley Children's. Today I bring to you a special episode specifically talking about Hirschsprung's disease and the soiling patient. And this is part two of a two-part series. Uh, with the last episode, we talked about a Hirsch Brung's disease patient that was not doing well and actually soiling. And what was the, what is the potential for bowel control? We specifically talked about the dentate line and looking to see whether or not it was intact and regarding the sphincter, if it was concentric and what is the squeeze. In order to evaluate this patient, they need to be awake and And additionally, anal rectal manometry can help you with this evaluation. If the sphincter tone is poor or if the dentate line is inadequate, the patient will need mechanical emptying in the way of malone or retrograde enemas. Again, if you missed this episode, go back to episode 22 to revisit this topic. Today, we will move on to specifically talking more in depth about the dentate line and motility. All right, Doctor Levitt, why don't you start us off? Let's talk dentate line, shall we? Let's look at, cause this is the other component of continence. Remember, the three components of continence are quality of sphincters, quality of dentate line, and motility. And when it comes to Hirschprung's disease, there's two sphincters to really be concerned about. One is the external sphincter, was that preserved? That's the one the patients have control of. And the other is the internal sphincter, which As you know, from Hirschprung's disease tends to not relax. They have an absent rare renal rectal anal inhibitory reflux, reflex, however, if they have been overstretched, then both the internal and the external sphincter are problematic. One very typical scenario that we see, let me ask you, what do you think it means if you have a patient that has voluntary bowel movements during the day and has accidents when they go to sleep. So at night, they poop, but during the day, they have control. What does that mean to you here? What, what is working and what is not working? So their external sphincters are working, um, and the internal sphincters are not. So when they're sleeping, they relax their external sphincters and that's how they lose the control. That was Doctor Hira Ahmad, the new pediatric surgery junior fellow at Seattle Children's. Yes, and I think that can happen if the dentate line is lost. And that can happen with some overstretching, also with some preservation of the external sphincter. Mark, can I scare you for a moment? That was Jason Fisher from Cincinnati Children's. Can we talk scientifically for one minute? I know this is crazy. But let's talk about the dentate line. What is it? What, how do you recognize it? Because we're going to show a number of photographs in a few moments to sort of see, is the dentate line intact or not. But why is that important? What does it mean? What does it signify? And so, you know, dentate line, we use that term, dentate line. Some people use the word pectinate line, um, and it's the transition, right, of, how do you recognize it, it's a transition from squamous epithelium to columnar epithelium, right? And so, there's an actual color or transition from A gross appearance, but, and this happens in the anal canal about 2/3 of the way up, but there's also blood supply changes that occur there. So slannik versus systemic, uh, blood supply, and then there's also innervation in that area. And I think that's where we think it's key as, as anatomic surgeons. Of why we try to preserve that line is in that area, when I talk to families pre-op and I discuss where we make our incision, I talk about that dentate line in the area where the nerves are located that tell you gas, liquid, solid. How hard do I need to squeeze, how long do I have to squeeze for, how tight do I have to squeeze? It's all innervated in that region, and preserving that region is key. And so, understanding, taking care of patients post-op from Hirschprung's disease, you need to recognize if that region has been injured in some way that might affect a patient's ability to be continent. Does that sound right? I mean, I'm trying to be, I don't know, I don't know if I am still worthy of this podcast after that scientific analysis. Have you heard the word? When's the last time you heard cuboidal epithelium? I'm, I'm, I'm gonna sign off and you guys just, um, I actually, if I may add one more thing, I also think that there is a proprioception concept, the stretch. And the rectum part, not the anal canal, I think has that capacity, which is why in anorectal malformations, you really gotta try to keep the rectum, because if the rectum stretches, you can detect that. That's called proprioception, and that's your signal. Uh oh, stool is accumulating. It's time to exert some authority over my external sphincter, hold the stool in and find a bathroom. And then if your internal sphincter is doing what it's supposed to, it relaxes at the time of the rectal stretch. This is why in ARM patients, in erectal malformation patients, giving them a stool softener is so problematic, because basically, they never feel the stretch. They just have loose stool flowing. So they are much better off with bulk, which is then kicked out by a laxative, than a stool softener that just slowly oozes out, they'll never have control of that. Such a great point. It, it is such a, it's such a little nuance, but so important to understand that any child, anorectal malformation, Hirschrung's disease, spinal conditions, A combination of any of those. The ability to sense stool in their rectum or neorectum region. is so sensitive on whether they're successful or not, that that right consistency of the stool or bulk of the stool. It is very important, and we, as Clinicians prescribe all different types of medications to manipulate the stool, which also manipulates the stool consistency and bulk. And if we make it too soft or too loose, we're putting a child or a person who is on the teeter of having control or not, and you throw them over that edge, and, and you just won't be successful. That clinical. That clinical scenario was beautifully illustrated recently by a very good friend of mine, whose name I will not mention to protect his privacy. Who traveled and came back to work with traveler's diarrhea. And we asked, he actually missed, he or she, I won't even mention who it is, but um asked, uh, uh, I took a day off, and then we, they came back and he said, how are you feeling? And they said, well, I'm not yet farting with confidence. And what that says is so important because loose stool. Is your enemy if you have borderline continence. It's your enemy if you have completely normal continents. Right? Loose stool is hard to deal with, because you don't know for sure that it's there. We are very dependent on the stretch, on the bulk of the stool in the rectum, and then that's when the external sphincter goes into motion, and the internal sphincter relaxes. Patients with Hirschprung's disease, with absolutely intact sphincters. Are dependent on that stretch, remember, they don't have a rectum, it's been removed. Their sigmoid has now taken over that job. If they have injured sphincters, they're particularly in trouble. All right. Let's move on and talk about the dentate line. For those of you listening in the stay current app, this is image number one. Patient is obviously under anesthesia. I have placed Lone Star pins to delineate the dentate line. This is really important to understand this anatomy, and how is the dentate line in this photo. Looks beautiful. Yes, and in fact, this is a trick question because this patient's never had any surgery. This patient is about to get a biopsy to rule out Hirschrung's disease, and I took this picture of a absolutely totally normal, never touched dentate line. Again, showing the squamous, this is where you see that change from squamous epithelium. To columnar epithelium, and, and that's it. It's unkeratinized or non-keratinized squamous epithelium going to columnar, and that's that color change that you see. All right, and now we'll turn our attention to image number 2. Hera, what do you think of this dentate line? It looks intact to me. He, you've had excellent training. Yes, it is perfect. Again, normal. This is actually a patient who has had surgery, who was being evaluated for some soiling, and you can't even tell this patient had surgery. This is a beautiful pull-through. Really, really well done. I don't know where the anastomosis is. It's perfectly healed. The dentate line is intact, and in fact, this patient just needed a little bit of senna to help them stool a little bit better. All right. Now, we get into some serious trouble. All right. Turn your attention to image 3 and the stay current app. Now, someone took a biopsy, but I'm not sure if you had a biopsy is necessary, although while you're there, you probably, it's worth doing. But clearly, this patient's problem is their dentate line. I missing right. There is absolutely, there is no evidence of a dentate line. They've started their dissection too low. We've lost all the value of any anal canal sensation. I do think it's a myth to say that this patient cannot have bowel control. I think this patient can develop bowel control, provided their sphincters are working. They will be very sensitive to loose stool. They won't be good at detecting that something is there unless they have bulk, but if they have the right diet and the right stool consistency, And sphincters that are intact, we can get this patient through, but it's really challenging if they have a missing dentate. It's very hard. I mean, it makes sense that they should if the muscle is intact, right, because this is no different than an anorectal malformation, anastomosis. That's right. But it's, it's, it's rectum or colon mucosa to skin. All right, on the image 4. Kira, what do you think? It looks like it's partially intact in this patient. So here you're about to go train in a wonderful children's hospital. If I asked you which side of this anoplasty did the fellow do, and which side did the faculty member do, what, what would your, what would your answer be? I will always blame the fellow. Very good. You are ready for your fellowship. Alright, on image 5. That is a Hirschprung's patient, I promise you. Yeah, that's unfortunate, horrific. That is a patient with no dentate line and pattula sphincters, and you clearly see with the skin changes around that, that this patient has really struggled and has been soiling and, and, and sitting in, in pull-ups or a diaper, really causing severe skin irritation. Wait until you see image sex. Oh, I'm scared. I'm really scared. And there it is. There it is. OK. I mean, this is just absolutely the worst. These patients, there are two of them here, show a horrific diaper rash, perineal excoriation related to no dentate line, no intact sphincters. These patients needed temporary stomas, and I think the one on the right needed a permanent stoma. Nowadays, by the way, I think I can make that patient better with the sphincter tightening, uh, discussion. All right, so that is the anatomy, anal canal, and sphincters that we talked through. Now, let's, I'm gonna, I'm gonna paint the following picture. We have a scenario with the patient with excellent potential for bowel control. Sphincters and dental line are intact. In a patient without good potential for bowel control, sphincters and dentate line are are problematic. Now the 3rd factor, the motility factor, kicks in. Alright, and go ahead and turn your attention to image 7, which is the contrast study in the stay current app. What is the problem? With this colon. Again, I'm gonna get to what to do about it, but is that a colon here that moves too slow, too fast? There's transition zone, or there's a stricture. Poor hera on the spot like for an hour. Where's the rest of my buddies today? So it definitely doesn't look like the colon that moves too fast. Um, it could potentially be a colon that moves slow. Um, why do you say that? Why? I mean, you had a. Thought process. Right, so just reading the contrast enema, it doesn't look like there's a lot of castrations in the colon that are causing these potentially you could interpret as like castrations, um, as contractions of the colon, and usually if the colon moves too fast, you have like a smaller caliber colon with a lot of poststrations and not as dilated. Uh, when you're concerned about it moving too slow, there's a dilation of the colon, uh, there's lack of postrations, um, so you could potentially say, I mean, of, of course, we need a motility study to really make the determination, but reading the contrast cinema, you could say that the colon is potentially moving too slow. Yes, and then the other thing to consider is, is there a problem with the pull-through? But remember, we are talking about soiling, and we specifically made the comment. That this, these patients are not obstructed. We already talked about the obstructed patient, but if you, you need to take a history. You need to say, what happens to this patient, and if this patient has soiling, no obstruction, no distention, no enterocolitis, and 3 stools a day, then that's a patient that needs management of a slow-moving colon. But let's talk about the next slide. All right, and if you're in the stay current app, turn your attention to image 8. The next slide is the same contrast study, but now the scenario is, how would you treat the patient? And how would you treat the patient if the sphincters and dentate line are intact, and how would you treat this patient if the sphincters and dentate line are deficient? In both scenarios, patients need a bowel management program. If your sphincters are poor and your dented line is deficient, probably mechanical, as we mentioned before, uh, with an enema program. If the sphincters and dentate line are intact, we could potentially, um, start with the mechanical and then switch them over to, um, Laxative program. I like that. It's just to complete the story, of course, if this was an obstructed patient clinically, then we have to go looking for a cause, and maybe there's a stricture here that's causing the dilation. But our assumption is that this is not an obstructed patient. He's got a little bit of constipation. We have to treat them. We're gonna treat them based on their potential for continence. If they have great potential. Versus no potential or problematic. And then keep in mind, which we're gonna get to in a little bit, what do we do about the sphincters? What if everything is fine, dentate line intact, sphincters are intact. He has this image. What about the sphincters? Maybe we need to treat the sphincters, and that's where the Botox's session comes up. But let's hold off for one second and let's talk about the other side of this coin, which is the next slide. If you're in the state current app, turn your attention to image 9. What is wrong with this colon? Right, so in this one, the colon is decompressed, um, and you see a lot of prostration, so potentially the colon is moving too fast. That's right. Now, if this was a patient that was behaving obstructed. You might say this looks like transition zone pull through. But in this patient actually stool 7 or 8 times a day. So, this is not a transition zone pull-through. This is a good ganglionated pull-through. This is not a stricture. There's no maximal dilatation. This is a patient who's moving too fast. And then, similar question, if the sphincters and dentate line are intact, how would you treat? If the sphincters are poor and the dentate line is deficient, how would you treat? So, um, I think in both cases we can start off with constipating diet, add bulking agents, in add PPIs, um, but if the sphincters and dentate lines are not intact or it's deficient, then we may have to start with, um, irrigations or, um, say like small enemas, small volume enemas. Right. This, this is, these are the harder patients to take care of, and the trick that I use is you have to constipate them. And then if they're able to empty with continence on their own, then great. If they're not, then you have to mechanically help them empty. But it, it's, it's like, it sounds counterintuitive, but at least the way I treat these patients, I constipate them, and then I empty them. Whether they can empty on their own, versus empty with The need for mechanical emptying to sort of keep it timed and keep that patient mechanically or socially continent, sort of depends on their sphincter function, etc. But that's how I sort of explain it to the families. It sounds weird, but we're gonna constipate you, and then we have to figure out how to empty you in a time-controlled fashion. Yeah, I really like that. I think that's really, really well said. I mean, the bottom line is we have solved the obstruction. The Hirschprung's is an obstruction problem. Now the tough part is getting them clean. Two separate and independent challenges. Most of them get clean on their own. That's why Hirshprung's vast majority of patients have a great, great success stories. But then we need to know, are they too slow or are they too fast? How do we manipulate their motility, and we need to understand inherently, do they have the mechanisms needed for continence, i.e., their sphincters and their dentate line. All right, and let's go over the treatment of hypermotility. Doctor Levitt, why don't you go through with us image 11 from the stay current app. This is a list of like what to do for the hypermodal patient. How to slow them down. So, obviously, skin care is vitally important, um, and a cyanoacrylate-based barrier is very helpful. The wound care has become marvelous. The amount of improvements in wound care of perineums and its care of Hirschprung's disease or any hypermodal patient has dramatically improved over the last 4 or 5 years. Uh, proton pump inhibitor is also helpful to reduce the acidity of the stool, and there are some creams like, uh, some products that are antacid that you can take orally, liquid that you can put on the skin that reduces the acidity and helps the excoriation. Here you mentioned small volume enemas, which are a very helpful maneuver. Then, water-soluble fiber, which produces bulk, and there's a whole bunch of fibers. Some of them are water-soluble, some of them are water-insoluble. You want the water-soluble one that forms bulky stool. Then there's loperamide. Loperamide is very helpful medicine. We try to give that and we go max, we max up based on the patient's uh uh weight. And basically, that is 0.5 to 0.8 mg per kilogram divided daily. The next level of treatment is cholestyramine. Um, and thereafter, we've also used something called hyoscyamine, which I call Levsin, but Levsin is the trade name, 0.125 mg tab every six hours. And finally, diphenoxylate atropine, which is called Lomotil, which I almost never use cause it has some cardiac defects that you don't want those side effects. But this is the armamentarium available to slow down the stool. Have you used tincture of opium at all in? Yes, and that's, that's also useful, but again, it's a controlled substance and it's a, it's uh difficult to uh to get prescribed. And then to finalize our conversation, if everything checks out with the pull-through. And they're still not emptying. Don't forget about Botox. We talked about Botox a little bit. In the last podcast, but it's just a reminder of the fact that we may need the patient to train and do a better job at controlling their non-relaxing sphincters and not being withholders and adding to the problem. And I, I think that's a good point, Mark, and, and we, I think I see it, and anecdotally, um, I wanna bring up two things. One, I think Hirschprung's patients who have a good operation, their sphincters in some patients seem to be Like these super strong sphincters, and sometimes they just need a little relaxation to Um, allow for, to allow for a passage of stool until they learn to, um, that external and internal sphincter to coordinate properly to allow for evacuation. And that's where Botox, I think, comes into play to sort of train those sphincters, and also getting maybe some objective data from anorectal manometry to see what the resting pressures are in these patients. Um, they're usually on the higher end of normal, and then just sometimes some patients need that extra relaxation to allow them to go. The other thing we didn't mention today, which I think is very important and probably worth its own podcast, is nutrition in patients with Hirschprung's disease. I, I find patients with Hirschprung's disease are very sensitive to some foods, some patients. Lactose being one of those foods that I find very sensitive, um, but there's certainly others. And so, sometimes paying attention to a patient's diet, whether it be breastfed infants to their diet as they're older, um, I think it's very important to at least pay attention, cause I find lactose, particularly to be very sensitive in some patients. So, I don't know others' thoughts on that, but it definitely plays a role. So if you guys had to pick a soiling or an obstructive problem, which one would you pick? None. We have to get it right the first time. And if you don't get it right, you gotta use these techniques and this algorithm to figure out what's wrong, cause we could get every patient doing well. They might need help, and they might need mechanical evacuations, Botox, etc. but we could, we all should be able to get these patients on the right track. But I will say, the hardest group of patients of all the soilers that we take care of. Which include anorectal malformation, Hirschsprung's, functional constipation, and spinal. The worst group, the hardest group is definitely Hirschprung's, without question, because the sphincters are so troublesome. Um, but of that group, the hypermodal are much harder than the hypomodal. But with strategies, you can really get a lot of these patients clean that were told they could never be clean. Um, if you sort of have your methodology, you know if they have potential for bowel control. And then you manipulate the motility as we've, as we've discussed. All right, and that wraps up episode 23, Hirschrung's Disease and the soiling Patient. This is part two of a two-part series. Today, we talked about that dentate line and how important it is that it is completely intact and specifically looking at skin excoriation and how to prevent that. And then lastly, looking at that barium enema, and how to tell whether the patient's colon is moving too slow and is hypomodal, or is hypermodal, and essentially too fast, and how to manage that medically. Thank you for joining us today. Remember, knowledge should be free. Until next time, this is Amanda Jensen from Riley Children's.

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