Fecaloma

Faecal stones, also called Koprolith, Fekalom, Faecalith or Enterolith, are rock -like structure, whose core made ​​of solid inspissated faeces around which layers may have been deposited from dried-up mucus and intestinal contents. Faecal stones are deposited preferentially into blind-ended sections of the intestine. One finds faecal stones among other diverticula in the colon (large intestine), in the caecum ( cecum ) and in the vermiform appendix ( appendix ) and in the ampulla of the rectum ( back passage ).

Complications of Kotsteinen include the ileus ( intestinal obstruction ) with its consequences as well as intestinal perforation with subsequent peritonitis or Kotabszesse.

In the Anglo-American literature faecal stones are called coprolith or enterolith.

Diagnostics

The diagnosis of Kotsteinen is not as easy as it first appears. Often faecal stones are only discovered during an operation or as part of a section. Faecal stones in the rectum you can feel with your finger may. At endoscopy can see them when they are in the investigated intestinal lumen. Ultrasound can be seen as a bright, radio-opaque spots in the appendix or diverticulum in them sometimes. The ultrasound can not distinguish between Kotsteinen and air but.

Therapy

Faecal stones that have caused an ileus or intestinal perforation in appendicitis or diverticulitis, be surgically removed. Faecal stones in the rectum can sometimes clear up manually or dissolve by multiple enemas.