The role of organic brain dysfunction in the formation of inorganic encopresis in childhood

The article presents the results of a long-term study of inorganic encopresis in childhood and adolescence. Objective: to study the factorial causation of inorganic encopresis based on the systematization and analysis of data from a complex clinical and paraclinical study (anamnestic, neurological, electrophysiological, neuropsychological studies). Material and Methods. The study examined 192 cases of inorganic encopresis with a prolonged unfavorable course. The research sample included children with non-organic encopresis (F98.1 according to ICD-10), aged 5 to 13 years, with a general intellectual indicator according to the Wechsler scale not lower than the average (90-109 points). All children were examined by a pediatrician and gastroenterologist to exclude pathology of the gastrointestinal tract. The comparison was carried out with similar indicators of the same age groups of children and adolescents (n=100) - the control group. The clinical method was used as the main method in order to establish the clinical-psychopathological, clinical-dynamic patterns of the development of inorganic encopresis. According to the results of a computer EEG, violations of the bioelectrical activity of the brain were verified. Results. A comprehensive clinical and paraclinical study has demonstrated that the formation of encopresis is due to residual organic cerebral insufficiency due to the influence of pathogenic factors at the early stage of ontogenesis (prenatal and perinatal periods), which was detected in 100% of cases. The reliability of organic brain dysfunction during encopresis was verified by the data of neurological, electrophysiological, and neuropsychological studies. Correlation of distinct epileptiform EEG patterns with clinical manifestations of psychoorganic disorders indicates that mechanisms similar to epileptogenesis are involved in the development of encopresis with a prolonged unfavorable course