Constipation in children.

Chronic constipation with or without fecal soiling remains an important cause of childhood morbidity. A number of articles have appeared in the past year to advance our understanding of the pathophysiology, treatment, and long-term outcome of functional constipation and to give us a new treatment approach for intractable constipation in children. Hirschsprung's disease has been localized to chromosome 10. In addition, the number of children with preoperative enterocolitis of Hirschsprung's disease has decreased, most likely due to the availability of anorectal manometry and better staining methods of the rectal biopsies, which has resulted in earlier diagnosis. The mean age at diagnosis decreased to 2.6 months. Neuronal intestinal dysplasia does not appear to be a unique clinicopathologic entity.