Criteria for functional fecal incontinence:
(1) duration of disorder >= 1 month
(2) recurrent, uncontrolled passage of fecal material
(3) person has a developmental age of >= 4 years
(4) one or more of the following:
(4a) fecal impaction
(4b) diarrhea
(4c) non-structural anal sphincter dysfunction
(5) exclusion of other causes of incontinence as the sole cause of the incontinence
where:
• Structural anal sphincter dysfunction includes sphincter muscle injury and nerve injury.
• A patient may have mixed fecal incontinence due to both a structural lesion and functional incontinence.
• Functional fecal incontinence may coexist with the irritable bowel syndrome.
Other causes of incontinence include:
(1) rectal prolapse
(2) mental incompetence
(3) willful soiling
(4) poor hygiene
