Determination of the anal position in newborns and in children with chronic constipation: comparative study in two European healthcare centres.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to determine the normal anal position index (API) in neonates and in a group of older children with chronic constipation, and to identify the incidence of anterior ectopic anus (AEA) in the two groups.

Materials And Methods: A prospective random study was carried out in two European hospitals determining the API in 1,012 neonates (529 in Group A, and 483 in Group B) and in 64 children suffering chronic constipation of ages between 3 months and 12 years (Group C). The API is defined as the ratio between the fourchette-anal and fourchette-coccygeal distances in girls and the scroto-anal and scroto-coccygeal distances in boys.