The relationship between etiology, symptom severity and indications of surgery in cases of anal incontinence: a 25-year analysis of 1,046 patients at a tertiary coloproctology practice

Background The etiology of anal incontinence (AI) is often multifactorial. There is little data on the relationship between the etiology of AI, symptom severity, and the need for surgery. The aim of our study was to investigate this association in a large number of unselected patients with AI referred to a tertiary specialist coloproctological practice.