THE PRACTICAL MANAGEMENT OF ENCOPRESIS

SUMMARY The encopretic child is an unpopular but not uncommon patient. By the time he is referred for psychiatric help, his soiling has usually become a complex issue of psychological and physiological disturbance in which parental attitudes play an important part. The aetiology of the condition is discussed in some detail and the practical plan of management described has proved successful in a small number of “hard core” cases. Since this does not involve complex psychotherapeutic techniques, it is suggested that it could be carried out in any paediatric hospital setting, thus avoiding the long waiting list so often associated with psychiatric referral.