Table 3.

Common Medical Conditions Associated With Constipation

Drug effects

See Table 2

Mechanical obstruction

Colon cancer

External compression from malignant lesion

Strictures: diverticular or postischemic

Rectocele (if large)

Postsurgical abnormalities

Megacolon

Anal fissure

Metabolic conditions

Diabetes mellitus

Hypothyroidism

Hypercalcemia

Hypokalemia

Hypomagnesemia

Uremia

Heavy metal poisoning

Myopathies

Amyloidosis

Scleroderma

Neuropathies

Parkinson's disease

Spinal cord injury or tumor

Cerebrovascular disease

Multiple sclerosis

Other conditions

Depression

Degenerative joint disease

Autonomic neuropathy

Cognitive impairment

Immobility

Cardiac disease

Adapted from Gastroenterology, Vol. 119, Locke GR, Pemberton JH, and Phillips SF, AGA technical review on constipation, 1766-1778, copyright 2000, with permission from the American Gastroenterological Association.