When Your Child Has Encopresis | Saint Luke's Health System
Encopresis is leakage caused by the backup of dry, hard stool (called constipation). Hard stool piles up at the end of the rectum (where stool is stored before leaving through the anus). The lower colon and rectum may become stretched out. Your child may not even feel the need to have a bowel movement. In time, liquid stool leaks around the blockage and out through the anus. This leakage often happens without your child’s knowledge. The good news is that encopresis can be treated.