Anorectal motility responses to selective stimulation of the ventral sacral nerve roots in an experimental model (original) (raw)

Background: Control of defaecation and continence may be lost in patients with spinal cord injury. Electrical stimulation of sacral nerve roots to promote defaecation simultaneously activates both the rectum and the external anal sphincter (EAS), and may actually obstruct defaecation. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the EAS could be blocked selectively by selective stimulation of the ventral sacral nerve roots, and whether activation of the rectum without activation of the EAS could be obtained by stimulation of the ventral sacral nerve roots.