Coprolith

Source: Wiki

Last year there was a news about a lady who suffered chronic constipation. She took laxatives for years but did not improve much. One day she had really back abdominal pain and checked in hospital. Doctor in the hospital said that she had peritonitis. Due to chronic constipation, lots of food residue has formed coprolith, which completely clogged the end of the large intestine. As a consequence, the proximal end of the large intestine burst, resulting to peritonitis.

During the surgery, doctor cleared nearly 3000 c.c feces and coprolith. Because the patient's colon is ruptured, doctor need to use a temporary artificial anus until the situation is improved.

Coprolith meaning "a mass of hard fecal matter in the intestine" (Merriam-Webster). It can also be written as fecaloma, fecolith, and fecalith.

In Lesson 12-2, we introduced the prefix copr(o)-. This prefix is originated from Greek korpros, meaning feces.

The suffix -lith is also originated from Greek lithos, meaning stone. We will see this suffix again in Lesson 19-2.

When we put these two together, we have coprolith. Chronic constipation or some disease will result in the formation of coprolith. We can avoid coprolith formation by drinking adequate amount of water everyday. Exercise will also help.

【認識疾病】糞石（coprolith）

圖片來源：wiki

最近有個新聞，有位女士，多年來一直為便秘所苦，長期使用各種瀉藥與軟便藥，仍是3-4天才上一次廁所。某日因腹脹痛，至醫院就診，經會診外科醫師檢查發現，病患已出現腹膜炎及休克現象。

醫師表示，病患因長期便秘，大量未排出的食物渣已形成糞石，完全塞住大腸的末端，加上一直使用瀉藥，以致近端大腸脹破，而引發腹膜炎。於手術中清出了近3000c.c的宿便及糞石，同時由於病患大腸已被脹破，腹腔汙染嚴重，因此需使用暫時性的人工肛門來改善狀況。

糞石在專業英文裡面可以寫作fecaloma、coprolith、fecolith、fecalith。

在第十二課（二）裡面，我們介紹了copr(o)-這個字首；它是從希臘文的korpros來的，意思就是便便。

而-lith這個字根，也還是從希臘文來的；希臘文是lithos，意思是「石頭」（參考第十九課（二））。

組合起來就是「糞石」。糞石是糞塊結石的簡稱，由食物殘渣等不能或不宜消化的物質組成。通常都是因為經常便秘，日積月累組成。如果有習慣性便秘要看醫生，日常多喝水，避免久坐，飯後一小時揉揉肚子，都可以預防糞石產生（參考連結）。