• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.75-86
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• 2024

Spinal cord infarction is one of the rare strokes with no clear signs of serious nerve damage or after-effects. This study reports on the effectiveness of a combined treatment of Korean medicine and acupuncture on bilateral paraplegia, dysuria, and constipation in a patient with sudden-onset spinal cord infarction. An 84-year-old male patient was diagnosed with spinal cord infarction in August 2022. After diagnosis by whole spine MRI, he received treatment for two months at another hospital, but the improvement was insignificant. He then received Korean medicine treatment, and during this period, his lower extremity manual muscle test grade improved from 3 to 4 and his modified Rivermead mobility index score increased by 13 points, compared with hospitalization. Dysuria improved with acupuncture, and constipation improved with herbal medicine treatment. A combination of herbal medicine and acupuncture can be used to treat paraplegia, dysuria, and constipation caused by spinal cord infarction.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.93-100
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• 2018

Purpose: Rome criteria are considered the gold standard for diagnosing functional constipation. The modified Bristol stool form scale (m-BSFS) was validated to measure stool form in children. However, neither the potential use of the m-BSFS as a tool to facilitate the diagnosis of potential constipation, nor the agreement between m-BSFS and stool consistency by Rome has been studied. Our objective is to determine if m-BSFS is a reliable tool to facilitate detection of constipation; and the agreement between stool form by m-BSFS and hard stool criteria in Rome. Methods: A survey tool with the Rome III criteria and the m-BSFS was developed. A Likert-scale addressed frequency of each stool form on the m-BSFS. Responses to Rome III and m-BSFS were compared. Results: The sensitivity and specificity of the m-BSFS was 79.2% and 66.0% respectively; and in children <4 years. improved to 81.2% and 75.0% respectively. There was poor agreement between hard stools by m-BSFS and the painful or hard bowel movement question of Rome Criteria. Conclusion: The potential utility of m-BSFS as a reasonably good tool to facilitate the diagnosis of potential constipation in children is shown. The poor agreement between painful or hard stool question in Rome III, and ratings for hard stool on the m-BSFS illustrates that one's perception may differ between a question and a picture. A useful pictorial tool to appraise stool form may, thus, be a favorable complement in the process of enquiry about bowel habits in well-child care.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.28-33
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• 2018

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of synbiotic formula with partial whey hydrolysate and high magnesium content in infants presenting with functional constipation. Methods: Sixty-five infants with functional constipation were included. Forty infants were treated during one month with parental reassurance and the intervention formula and were compared to a control group of 25 infants treated with parental reassurance only. Parents completed a quality of life (QoL) questionnaire at baseline and during the last week of the study. Results: At inclusion, stool characteristics and QoL were similar in both groups. The control group was slightly older than the intervention group ($7.5{\pm}3.9$ vs. $6.2{\pm}3.6$ weeks). At onset, stool composition was "hard and tight" (Bristol stool scale 1 and 2) in all infants. After one month, stool composition remained unchanged in the control group except in two infants that developed "creamy" stools (Bristol stool scale type 3 and 4). In the intervention group, stools remained "hard and tight" in 27.5%, and became "creamy" in 47.5%, "loose" (Bristol stool scale type 5) in 22.5% and "watery" (Bristol stool type 6 and 7) in 2.5%. The benefit of the intervention formula was estimated to be "very important" in 70%. The median scores for QoL improved significantly in the intervention group for all parameters and for one in the control group. Conclusion: The intervention formula significantly improved functional constipation resulting in a better QoL of the parents and infants.

• Journal of Korean Medical classics
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.29-43
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• 2018

Objectives : This paper studies how the people of the past deal with constipation before the introduction of modern medical knowledge. Then, the paper selected some of the methods that use food ingredients with little to no side effects, and studied them to find a basic set of data that can be applied to today's medical practices. Methods : This paper reviewed six literatures: China's Eumsunjungyo, Nonohangeon, and Shiggamboncho, and Chosun's Singnyochanyo, Donguibogam, and Jejungsinpyeon. The food cures related to constipation were studied to discover what ingredients and preparation forms were used, how they were taken, what types of prescriptions existed, and how they were applied. Results : The food cure for constipation included ingredients such as mazi, suzi, sesame, honey, yiyiren, yuliren, xingren, taoren, and rice. These ingredients are known for replenishing the body's fluid and humor and allowing the better flow of qi. Mazi porridge, suma porridge, raw sesame oil, suzhu porridge, and suxing porridge were effective in dealing with the conspitation caused by heat, and jingshen wan, yiyiren porridge, yuliren porridge, yulirenyiyiren porridge, xingren porridge, and taoren porridge were effective in taking care of conspitation caused by qi deficiency. Conclusions : With a constipation caused by heat, it is good to take mazi and spinach regularly which is helpful in cooling down the heat. For senior citizens, constipations occur due to the qi deficiency that leads to the lack of fluid and humor. In this case, suzhu porridge should be taken regularly together with milk and sesame oil in order to replenish the qi. This will tonify the amount of qi and moisten the large intestines, which will be also helpful in tonifying the body itself.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.40-61
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• 1995

This study was performed to investigate concept, systoms, causes of disease, pathogenic mechanisms, therapies and precriptions about senile constipation through the successive medical literature, recent chinese medical literature and chinese medical joumals. Senile constipation seems to be applicable to dryness syndrom and constipation of insufficiency type, have something to do with kidney(the most), lung, spleen and large intestine. The most principal cause of disease is yin-fluid, the rest deficiency of qi, insufficiency of yang, stagnation of qi and retention of fever etc. There are enriching the blood and moistening dryness in principal therapy, the rest are invigorating qi and loosing the bowel, warming and invigorating the spleen and kidney, regulating the flow of qi and promoting the stagnancy of qi and expelling the pathogenic heat etc. In prescriptions there are Yunjangtang, Jengaektang, Hwanggitang, Jechunjeon, Yukmatang and Majainhwan as the causes of disease, meanwhile are Yungjang-tang, Jechunjeon and Majainhwan in the vulgaris prescriptions. And in medical herbs there are nourishing yin medicines as Rhizoma rehmanniac, Radix ophiopogonis and Radix scrophulariae etc., invigorating qi medicines as Radix astragali, Radix codonopsitis and Radix polygoni multiflori etc, invigorating yang medicines as Caulis cistanchis and Semen psoraleae etc., promoting qi circulating medicines as Radix saussurea, Lignum aquilariae and Radix linderae etc., and reducing fever and therapeutic method to keep the adverse qi flowing downward medicines as Semen cannabis, Rhizoma rhei, Fructus immaturus ponciri, and Cortex magnoliae etc.. Meantime Rhizoma rehmanniae, Radix ophiopogonis, Caulis cistanchis, Radix angelicae gigantis, Semen cannabis, Semen biotae, Semen pruni japonicae and Semen persicae in principal herb-medicines. In clinical reports the process of disease was between 10 to 20 years, the evacuation cycle between 4 to 7 days, generally possessed chronic diseases as hypertension, diabetes, arteriosclerosis and cerebro- vascular disorders etc. and the efficiency rate was more than 90%. The senile constipation is occured in succession or promoted by chronic diseases as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, arteriosclerosis. hrperlipemia, cerebro- vascular disorders etc., so diet-regulating, adequate exercise, proper evacuation-habit and psychologic rest etc. are important more than medicine-treatments.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.906-916
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• 2017

To investigate the effects of a single bacterium and a mixture of bacteria as probiotics in loperamide-treated animal models, loperamide (3 mg/kg) was administered to SD rats to induce constipation. The individual lactic acid bacterial doses, Enterococcus faecium (EF), Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA), Streptococcus thermophilus (ST), Bifidobacterium bifidum (BB), Bifidobacterium lactis (BL), Pediococcus pentosaceus (PP), and a mixture of the bacteria were orally administered to loperamide-induced constipated rats at a concentration of $10^8CFU/kg$ for 14 days. The weights and water contents of their stools were found to be significantly higher in PP, CKDB (mixture of 5 strains except PP), and CKDBP (CKDB+PP) groups than in the normal (constipation not induced) and the control (constipation-induced) groups (p<0.05). The intestinal transit ratio was significantly higher in all probiotic-treated groups than in the control group, and was the highest in the CKDBP group (p<0.05). The mucosal length and mucus secretion were significantly improved in all probiotic-treated-groups, as compared to that in the control group, and the CKDBP group was found to be the most effective according to immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining and total short chain fatty acid content analysis (p<0.05). Lastly, PP, CKDB, and CKDBP showed relatively higher Lactobacillus sp. ratios of 61.94%, 60.31% and 51.94%, respectively, compared to the other groups, based on metagenomic analysis.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.51-62
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• 2001

Objectives : In Oriental Medicine, the improvement of constipation is very important for patients at the acute stage of cerebrovascular accident. For constipation, oral medicine has usually been used but is not available to stroke patients with dysphagia and mental disorder, and may bring about side effects on the gastrointestinal tract. In such cases, general enema has been used for assistant therapy, We needed to develop a more effective enema technique on constipation of stroke patients. Methods : Sixty-three patients were researched. We treated 29 patients with Bo-Ryu enema and 34 patients with general enema. To compare the effect of the Bo-Ryu enema group with that of the general enema group, we analyzed general characteristics, bowel movement, abdominal examination and related symptoms. Results : Sixty-three patients comprised the Bo-Ryu (n=29) and general (n=34) enema groups. Between the Bo-Ryu and general enema groups, the Bo-Ryu enema was more effective than the general enema in the number of bowel movements, total and corrected amount of stool, tonus of rectus abdominis muscle and abdominal discomfort. However, there were not significant differences in the power of abdominal muscle, digestion and physical power. Among the subgroups, Bo-Ryu enema group was most effective in the number of bowel movements, total amount of stool and tonus of rectus abdominis muscle, and Bo-Ryu enema group was best in the corrected amount of stool and abdominal discomfort. Conclusions : Bo-Ryu enema should be considered as an effective and safe treatment for patients with constipation during the acute stage of cerebrovascular accident.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.249-259
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the foot-reflexology massage on sleep, depression and constipation in community-dwelling elders. Methods: A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was conducted. Participants were 46 old adults, aged >65 years who were recruited from two senior welfare centers in D metropolitan city (experimental group=24, control group=22). The intervention was conducted in 10 sessions over 2 weeks, taking 20 min per session. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, ${\chi}^2-test$, independent t-test, and Pearson correlation coefficient with the SPSS 22.0 Windows program. Results: The experimental group showed significant improvements in sleep (t=-5.60, p<.001), depression (t=3.93, p<.001), and constipation (t=4.90, p<.001) after 2 weeks of the foot-reflexology massage. Conclusion: These findings indicate that the foot-reflexology massage is an effective intervention program for improving sleep, depression and constipation of old adults.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.454-456
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• 2014

A 9-month-old intact male Persian cat (3.2 kg of body weight) was referred with primary complaint of constipation. Diagnostic studies found severe constipation and megacolon. After immediate medical treatment (e.g. enema), the physical examination was performed and revealed that the unusual urethral opening was found approximately 0.5 cm ventral to the tip of the penis where a 3.5 fr tomcat catheter was easily advanced into the bladder. The case was diagnosed as hypospadias. The cat was treated with castration and medical therapy for constipation. To our best knowledge, this case is the first case report for feline hypospadias complicated with chronic constipation in Korea.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.8
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• pp.752-756
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• 2007

Purpose : The aim of this study was to compare 2 laxatives, namely, polyethylene glycol 4000 without electrolytes and lactulose, evaluating the efficacy and safety for the treatment of constipation in children. Methods : Fifty-six children with chronic functional constipation were randomly assigned to receive polyethylene glycol 4000 (24 patients) or lactulose (32 patients). Patients or their parents reported defecation frequency, stool consistency, abdominal pain, stool incontinence and side effects after 1, 3, 6 and 12 months of treatment. Percentage of recovered patients were compared with each group. Results : Defecation frequency, abdominal pain and stool incontinence were improved in each group. At 12 months of follow up, 60% of patients treated with polyethylene glycol and 57.7% of patients treated with lactulose were considered as recovered. Conclusion : In this study, both polyethylene glycol and lactulose were equally effective and safe in the long-term treatment of constipation in children. There were no significant differences in recovery rates between 2 groups.