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Evacuation proctography: An investigation of rectal expulsion in 20 subjects without defecatory disturbance

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Abstract

Evacuation proctography is a dynamic investigation of rectal expulsion that records the voluntary evacuation of thick barium paste on videotape. Evacuation is a passive phenomenon in a defined zone of the rectum, associated with pelvic floor descent of 3 cm from a resting position of the anorectal junction <2 cm above the plane of the ischial tuberosities. The anal canal does not open immediately; it takes about 4.5 sec to open to a maximum diameter of 1.5 cm, with rectal emptying in 11 sec. Anterior rectoceles commonly invert over the anal canal as the rectum collapses in at the end of evacuation.

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Bartram, C.I., Turnbull, G.K. & Lennard-Jones, J.E. Evacuation proctography: An investigation of rectal expulsion in 20 subjects without defecatory disturbance. Gastrointest Radiol 13, 72–80 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01889028

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01889028

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