Functional

Bowel and bladder dysfunction refers to loss of control of these bodily functions due to trauma or a developing disorder of the lower back.

Bowel and bladder dysfunction can be caused by a number of other low back disorders. The most common cause of this dysfunction is spinal cord injury. But there are other causes like severe disc injury, such as massive paramedian or central herniation; cauda equine syndrome; severe degenerative spinal disorders; myelomeningocele, which is the most severe form of spina bifida, severe spinal stenosis and certain myelopathies, among others.

If a patient presents with bowel or bladder paralysis, it could be symptomatic of the cauda equina syndrome or a massive herniation at a higher level. Often this type of symptom is one of the indications for a laminectomy.

The common thread related to bowel and bladder dysfunction is neurological injury due to a traumatic event or a progressing lower back disorder of some kind. This type of dysfunction is often aggressively treated and often requires surgery.