Features of anorectal manometry in patients with rectocele

Objective To assess the anal and pelvic floor function in patients with rectocele (RC),and to afford the evidence for the treatments of RC.Methods Patients with functional constipation (FC) and healthy controls were consecutively enrolled,and all the subjects underwent defecography and anorectal manometry.According to defecography,the subjects were divided into four groups as no RC,mild RC,moderate RC and severe RC.The t-test,analysis of variance,rank sum test and Chi-square test were performed to compare the results of anorectal manometry between different RC groups in FC patients,and the results of anorectal manometry between moderate RC group in FC patients and control group with moderate RC were also compared.Results A total of 54 FC patients and 17 healthy controls were enrolled.No RC was found in all of male subjects.Of 48 female patients with FC,nine cases (18.8％) had no RC,seven (14.6％) had mild RC,18(37.5％) had moderate RC,and 14(29.2％) had severe RC.Three of the 12 female controls had no RC,one had mild RC,and eight had severe RC.Among all female patients with FC,the defecation rectal pressure in severe RC group ((34.4 ± 14.2) mmHg,1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) was significantly higher than of no RC group ((20.8 ± 13.1) mmHg,t=3.663,P=0.001),mild RC group ((19.1± 15.1) mmHg,t=3.719,P＜0.01) and moderateRC group ((25.6±16.3) mmHg,t=2.525,P=0.010).The left rectal pressure after defecation in mild RC group ((55.1 ± 19.7) mmHg) was significantly higher than that of moderate RC group ((43.3±17.6) mmHg,t=2.507,P=0.019) and severe RC group ((40.0±20.9) mmHg,t=2.619,P=0.006).The anal relax ratio in mild RC group (3.0％,0.5％ to 25.5％) was significantly lower than that of moderate RC group (19.5％,10.0％ to 29.0％,Z=-2.583,P=0.010) and severe RC group (22.0％,7.3％ to 54.5％,Z=-2.830,P=0.005).There were no significant differences in rectal and anal resting pressure,anal squeezing pressure,rectal sensory threshold and constituent ratio of manometry among four groups (all P＞0.05).The left rectal pressure after defecation in FC patients with moderate RC ((43.3 ± 17.6) mmHg) was significantly higher than that of controls with moderate RC ((26.3±20.8) mmHg,t=2.997,P＜0.01),and anal relax ratio was significantly lower than that of controls with moderateRC ((23.4±20.2)％ vs (55.2±16.3)％,t=-5.266,P=0.008).Conclusions RC is found in female and also found in individuals with normal defecation.FC patients with mild RC lack enough anal relax during defecation.However,defecation is relatively coordinate in FC patients with severe RC,which indicates that severe RC may be part of manifestation of pelvic floor relaxation. Key words: Rectocele;  Constipation;  Rectoanal manometry;  Defecography