Quick Guide
Approach to Constipation in Clinical Practice

Comprehensive Guide on Constipation

ABOUT the BOOK

Constipation, a common symptom in primary care practice, imposes a significant healthcare burden. As patients with constipation present with similar, multiple, and overlapping symptoms, the clinician should embark on identifying the type of constipation and initiate an appropriate treatment.

Recent advances have increased our understanding of the genesis of this problem and a deep understanding of this is the key to successful management.

This book, "Quick Guide Approach to Constipation in Clinical Practice" by Dr. BS Ramakrishna, a highly accomplished Indian Gastroenterologist with extensive teaching, research, and clinical experience, seeks to address this challenge of correct diagnosis and evidence-based management of constipation in clinical practice. Therefore, it will serve as a valuable tool to primary care physicians and postgraduate students.

Evidence-based management

Constipation in clinical practice Valuable tool for HCPs

Easy reference structure for clinicians

FEATURES OF THE BOOK

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction
• Anatomy of the Colon
• Physiology of Colonic Motility
• Physiology of Defecation

Section 1:

An overview of Colonic Motility

Section 2:

Constipation - An Overview

• Drugs as a Cause of Constipation
• Common Drugs Causing Constipation
• Opioid-induced Constipation.

Section 6:

Constipation and Irritable Bowel Syndrome

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome - An Overview
• Differentiating Between IBS-C and Functional Constipation.

• Definition
• Epidemiology and Risk Factors
• Impact of Constipation on Quality of Life
• The Economic Burden of Constipation
• Classification
• Clinical Manifestations

Section 7:

Drug-induced Constipation

• Introduction
• Hemorrhoids
• Anal Fissures.

Section 8:

Constipation in Anorectal Disorders

• Clinical Assessment
• Diagnostic Testing

Section 3:

Diagnostic Work-up in Patients with Constipation

• General Measures
• Dietary Fibers and Fiber Supplements/Bulk Laxatives
• Probiotics
• Pharmacological Therapy
• Enema
• Behavioral Therapy
• Surgical Approach
• Future Therapies.

Section 4:

Management of Constipation.

Section 5:

Approach to Chronic Constipation

• Epidemiology
• Classification Pathophysiological Mechanisms
• Clinical Presentation
• Natural History
• Diagnostic Work-up
• Management Strategies

Section 9:

Specific Conditions Causing Constipation

• Colonic Inertia
• Megacolon.
• Pelvic floor dysfunction
• Spinal cord injury
• Metabolic Disorders
• Systemic diseases

• Infants and children
• The elderly
• Pregnant women
• Surgical patients

Section 10:

Managing constipation in special population

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. BS Ramakrishna MBBS, MD, DM, PhD, FAMS, FASc, FNA, AGAF; Director, Institute of Gastroenterology; SRM Institutes for Medical Science (SIMS); Vadapalani, Chennai. Dr. BS Ramakrishna is presently the Director of Institute of Gastroenterology at SRM Institutes for Medical Science, Chennai, a position he holds since 2013. He is also the Academics Head at SRM Institutes for Medical Science, Chennai. He was an Adjunct Professor at Yale University School of Medicine till 2020. He was formerly associated with the Christian Medical College, Vellore from 1979 to 2012, and was Professor and Head of the Department of Gastrointestinal Sciences. He was affiliated to various institutes, including the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide, Australia and Salmaniya Medical Center, Bahrain in the past, and was Professorial Fellow at the Flinders University of South Australia.

Dr. BS Ramakrishna

MD, DNB, FCPS, FICP, MISG; Consultant Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist, P. D. Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai

Dr. Philip Abraham

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