Background: Because of the drawbacks of defecography (radiation hazard and lack of standardization), a new method by introital sonography is described to assess the evacuation phenomenon in women as an alternative to contrast radiographic studies.
Methods: Ten consecutive women (mean age, 41 years; range, 33-50; mean parity, 2; range, 1-4) without evacuation disturbances (history and physical examination) nor prior pelvic surgery underwent hypoechoic contrast-enhanced evacuation sonography in the squatting position and fluoroscopic defecography, when appropriate, within a 10-minute interval.
Results: Both techniques gave clear images of anal neck opening and funneling. While ultrasonography underestimated anorectal junction mobility, it showed soft tissue details (flap valve) not seen at defecography. Other advantages with sonography included lack of radiation hazard and prolonged observation time.
Conclusions: Evacuation sonography may be useful as an alternative to defecography for research purposes and for screening of evacuation dysfunctions in women.