Acute Medicine | Palliative care | Assessment of constipation

Assessment of constipation
Session overview
Description
This session gives a framework of how to assess constipation as an essential first step in appropriate management of constipation.

This session was reviewed by Rachel Lee and last updated in May 2023.

Learning objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• define constipation and how it relates to end-of-life care
• recognise the different factors that can contribute to the development of constipation
• outline the core steps involved in an assessment of constipation to reach a diagnosis and initiate a management plan

Constipation is a common problem for patients at the end of life and can cause significant distress, due both to physical discomfort and emotional and social impact.

Constipation is the slow movement of faeces through the large intestine that results in the passage of dry, hard stool.

This can result in discomfort or pain. The longer the transit time of stool in the large intestine, the greater the fluid absorption and the drier and harder the stool becomes.

This session aims to define constipation, recognise different factors leading to it and outline the core steps involved in an assessment.