Huge fecaloma in a rectum ampulla resolved with conservative treatment using a carbonated soft drink.

Colonic impaction due to a fecaloma is a very frequent complication in patients with chronic constipation. Most cases respond to conservative measures such as digital disimpaction or treatment with oral laxatives and enemas. However, in some cases fecalomas could be refractory to these treatments requiring aggressive measures such as endoscopic or surgical removal. Even more, there are a few cases of death reported as a complication of a fecaloma refractory to usual treatments. We report, for the first time, a case of a patient with a huge fecaloma refractory to oral laxative and enemas resolved conservatively with a single irrigation of a carbonated soft drink through a rectal probe.

Anisakis y pólipo en colon, una asociación infrecuente / Anisakis and colonic polyp, a rare association

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Environmental risk factors in inflammatory bowel diseases. Investigating the hygiene hypothesis: a Spanish case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: Environmental factors have been implicated in the etiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but evidence for the hygiene hypothesis is unclear. We investigated the relationship between early-life infection-related exposures and risk of IBD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A hospital-based case-control study was carried out. A total of 124 cases of Crohn's disease (CD) and 146 of ulcerative colitis (UC) were compared with 235 and 278 well-matched control subjects, respectively. A multi-item questionnaire on familial history of IBD, childhood circumstances and familial socioeconomic status was carried out. RESULTS: In a multivariate model, living in urban areas (odds ratio (OR) 4.58 (95% CI 2.17-10)), high educational level (OR 1.83 (95% CI 14-2.95)) and social status (OR 1.68 (95% CI 1.2-2.35)) were risk factors for CD, whereas childhood respiratory infections (OR 0.35 (95% CI 0.23-0.52)) and gastroenteritis (OR 0.55 (95% CI 0.36-0.85)) were protective factors. Living in urban areas (OR 4.6 (95% CI 2.29-9.9)), a high educational level (OR 10.3 (95% CI 2.54-42.1)) and social status (OR 2.042 (95% CI 1.31-3.17)) were also risk factors for UC, whereas respiratory infections (OR 0.42 (95% CI 0.29-0.6)) and gastroenteritis (OR: 0.6 (95% CI 0.42-0.86)) were protective factors. Appendectomy (OR 0.173 (95% CI 0.06-0.52)) and current smoking (OR 0.75 (95% CI 0.59-0.96)) were also protective for UC. CONCLUSION: These results further support the hypothesis that better living conditions during childhood are associated with an increased risk for IBD, and reinforce the negative association between smoking and appendectomy and the risk of UC.