Fecaloma 4034323 221593951 2008-06-25T05:38:18Z 70.203.133.130 {{Infobox_Disease | Name = {{PAGENAME}} | Image = | Caption = | DiseasesDB = | ICD10 = {{ICD10|K|38|1|k|35}} | ICD9 = {{ICD9|560.39}} | ICDO = | OMIM = | MedlinePlus = | eMedicineSubj = | eMedicineTopic = | MeshID = }} A '''fecaloma''' (meaning a tumor made of [[feces]], also called '''fecalith''' and '''coprolith''', i.e., stones made of feces) is a hardening of feces into stones of varying size inside the [[Colon (anatomy)|colon]], which may appear whenever chronic obstruction of transit occurs, such as in [[megacolon]] and chronic [[constipation]]. Some diseases, such as [[Chagas disease]], [[Hirschsprung's disease]] and others provoke the destruction of the [[autonomic nervous system]] inside the colon's [[mucosa]] ([[Auerbach's plexus]]) and may cause extremely large (giant) fecalomas, which must be surgically removed (disimpaction). Normally, however, fecalomas can be manually disimpacted or by passing colonic tubes ([[catheter]]s which carry a flow of disimpaction fluid (solvent). Fecal impaction may have severe and even lethal effects, such as the rupture of the colon's walls by acute angles of the fecalomas ([[stercoral perforation]]), followed by [[septicemia]]. A fecolith is also known to cause acute [[appendicitis]]. ==See also== *[[Fecal impaction]] ''Coprolith'' is also used to mean fossilized feces. ==References== Creason N, Sparks D. Fecal impaction: a review. ''Nurs Diagn.'' 2000 Jan-Mar;11(1):15-23. Review. PMID 10847055 [[Category:Gastroenterology]] [[Category:Feces]] [[es:Fecaloma]] [[it:Fecaloma]]