The Effect of Physiotherapy for the Treatment of Fecal Incontinence.

Fecal incontinence is the complaint of involuntary loss of feces. Fecal incontinence affects 2-12% of the adult population. It is a hidden problem - less than one third of the affected persons discuss the problem with their doctor. The condition has a negative effect on quality of life. It is associated with shame and limitation in social life, leisure, occupational and sexual activities. Pelvic floor muscle exercises with or without the use of biofeedback has been recommended and used for the treatment of fecal incontinence over the last decades. Several uncontrolled trials and some controlled trials have shown a positive effect of this training, but most of the trials are small and/or have methodological problems. Therefore there is to day still a lack of sufficient evidence for the effect of pelvic floor muscle exercise as a treatment of fecal incontinence. The aim of this study is to compare the effect of an individual physiotherapeutic supervised pelvic floor muscle training program with a control physiotherapeutic treatment (massage of the neck and back). Both treatments will be given parallel with standard information and guidance given by a nurse specialized in anal incontinence issues. Study hypothesis: Pelvic floor muscle exercises given parallel with standard advice and guidance by a specialized nurse, provides better effect to reducing fecal incontinence than control treatment and standard advice alone.