Definition

The megacolon denomination is used in various clinical conditions where there is a permanent dilatation of the colon, together with a permanent constipation. Depending on the causes of origin, it is divided into primary and secondary megacolon conditions. In the first, there is a decrease or absence of the nerves in charge of inducing the relaxation of intestinal muscles after their contraction causing a true obstruction of the normal transit of intestinal content.

The most frequent illnesses are the Hirschprung disease, of congenital origin and characterized by the absence of the formerly mentioned nerves; and the Chagas disease, where there is a destruction of those nerves by the trypanosoma cruzi. In the megacolon of secondary origin, the most frequent causes are of neurological origin, like Parkinson and multiple sclerosis, hypothyroidism, collagen alterations, as amyloid and scleroderma, obstruction of the colon light and psychological causes, like neurosis and psychosis.

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