The aetiology, diagnosis and treatment of constipation and diarrhoea in geriatric patients.

Constipation and, to a lesser extent, diarrhoea, are not uncommon in the elderly and are frequently due to nonorganic causes. Despite this, disturbances in bowel habit always warrant the consideration of possible organic causes. Carcinoma of the colon and endocrine causes are frequently overlooked and rectal examination is mandatory in all patients to exclude rectal carcinoma and faecal impaction. Rectal bleeding, of course, is as alarming a symptom in the elderly as it is in younger people.