If the pediatrician makes a diagnosis of retentive encopresis, the physician may recommend laxatives, stool softeners, or an enema to free the impaction.
Parents of a child with a serious behavior disorder like oppositional defiant disorder should work with their child's therapist to deal with encopresis in the context of other behavioral problems.
Encopresis is defined as repeated involuntary defecation somewhere other than a toilet by a child age four or older that continues for at least one month.
About 1 to 3 percent of children are affected by encopresis.
Encopresis can be one of two types, nonretentive encopresis and retentive encopresis.