The second edition revised and updated edition is a comprehensive text on the etiology, evaluation and management of chronic, intractable constipation, which as well as being debilitating, is a complaint with many causes and can also be a symptom of more serious pathological changes. Innovations include Professor Norman Williams' Malone Procedure (antegrade continent colonic conduit) and the newer pharmacologic treatments such as nitric oxide and botulinum toxin injections. Written by an international panel of authors, it includes all the new advances developed, described and tested since the first edition - biofeedback, surgery for constipation, sacral nerve stimulation, the use of laparoscopy for rectal prolapse, treament and our understanding of some of the psychological problems of these patients.The book is essential for coloproctologists, general surgeons and, with chapters on irritable bowel syndrome, botulinum toxin and other new pharmacologic approaches, will also appeal to gastroenterologists.