Diet in neurogenic bowel management:A viewpoint on spinal cord injury

The aim of this review is to offer dietary advice for individuals with spinal cord injury(SCI)and neurogenic bowel dysfunction.With this in mind,we consider health conditions that are dependent on the level of lesion including skeletal muscle atrophy,autonomic dysreflexia and neurogenic bladder.In addition,SCI is often associated with a sedentary lifestyle,which increases risk for osteoporosis and diseases associated with chronic low-grade inflammation,including cardiovascular and chronic kidney diseases.The Mediterranean diet,along with exercise and dietary supplements,has been suggested as an anti-inflammatory intervention in individuals with SCI.However,individuals with chronic SCI have a daily intake of whole fruit,vegetables and whole grains lower than the recommended dietary allowance for the general population.Some studies have reported an increase in neurogenic bowel dysfunction symptoms after high fiber intake;therefore,this finding could explain the low consumption of plant foods.Low consumption of fibre induces dysbiosis,which is associated with bothendotoxemia and inflammation.Dysbiosis can be reduced by exercise and diet in individuals with SCI.Therefore,to summarize our viewpoint,we developed a Mediterranean diet-based diet and exercise pyramid to integrate nutritional recommendations and exercise guidelines.Nutritional guidelines come from previously suggested recommendations for military veterans with disabilities and individuals with SCI,chronic kidney diseases,chronic pain and irritable bowel syndrome.We also considered the recent exercise guidelines and position stands for adults with SCI to improve muscle strength,flexibility and cardiorespiratory fitness and to obtain cardiometabolic benefits.Finally,dietary advice for Paralympic athletes is suggested.

Predictive factors for compliance with transanal irrigation for the treatment of defecation disorders

AIM To investigate compliance with transanal irrigation(TAI) one year after a training session and to identify predictive factors for compliance.METHODS The compliance of one hundred eight patients [87 women and 21 men; median age 55 years(range 18-83)] suffering from constipation or fecal incontinence(FI) was retrospectively assessed. The patients were trained in TAI over a four-year period at a single institution. They were classified as adopters if they continued using TAI for at least one year after beginning the treatment or as non-adopters if they stopped. Predictive factors of compliance with TAI were based on pretreatment assessments and trainingprogress. The outcomes of the entire cohort of patients who had been recruited for the TAI treatment were expressed in terms of intention-to-treat.RESULTS Forty-six of the 108(43%) trained patients continued to use TAI one year after their training session. The patients with FI had the best results, with 54.5% remaining compliant with TAI. Only one-third of the patients who complained of slow transit constipation or obstructed defecation syndrome continued TAI. There was an overall discontinuation rate of 57%. The most common reason for discontinuing TAI was the lack of efficacy(41%). However, 36% of the patients who discontinued TAI gave reasons independent of the efficacy of the treatment such as technical problems(catheter expulsion, rectal balloon bursting, instilled water leakage or retention, pain during irrigation, anal bleeding, anal fissure) while 23% said that there were too many constraints. Of the patients who reported discontinuing TAI, the only predictive factor was the progress of the training(OR = 4.9, 1.3-18.9, P = 0.02).CONCLUSION The progress of the training session was the only factor that predicted patient compliance with TAI.