Altered defaecatory behaviour and faecal incontinence in a video-tracked animal model of pudendal neuropathy

Aim: The aim was to develop a behavioural animal model of faecal continence and assess the effect of retro-uterine balloon inflation (RBI) injury. RBI in the rat causes pudendal neuropathy, a risk factor for obstetric related faecal incontinence in humans. Method: Video-tracking of healthy rats (n = 12) in a cage containing a latrine box was used to monitor their defaecatory behaviour index (DBI) over 2 weeks. The DBI (range 0–1) was devised by dividing the defaecation rate (pellets per hour) outside the latrine by that of the whole cage. A score of 0 indicates all pellets were deposited in the latrine. Subsequently, the effects of RBI (n = 19), sham surgery (n = 4) and colostomy (n = 2) were determined by monitoring the DBI for 2 weeks preoperatively and 3 weeks postoperatively. Results: The DBI for healthy rats was 0.1 ± 0.03 with no significant change over 2 weeks (P = 0.71). In the RBI group, 13 of 19 rats (68%) showed no significant change in DBI postoperatively (0.08 ± −0.05 vs 0.11 ± −0.07) while in six rats the DBI increased from 0.16 ± −0.09 to 0.46 ± 0.23. The negative control, sham surgery, did not significantly affect the DBI (0.09 ± 0.06 vs 0.08 ± 0.04, P = 0.14). The positive control, colostomy, increased the DBI from 0.26 ± 0.03 to 0.86 ± 0.08. Conclusions: This is the first study showing a quantifiable change in defaecatory behaviour following injury in an animal model. This model of pudendal neuropathy affects continence in 32% of rats and provides a basis for research on interventions for incontinence.