Constipation Clinical Pathways

Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Constipation Clinical Pathway provides guidance on the evaluation and management of children with suspected constipation in the emergency department and urgent care settings. The pathway includes guidance on history, physical exam, red flags for emergent medical and surgical conditions, and age-based treatment recommendations for constipation and fecal impaction.

Constipation clinical pathways

• Constipation

About our constipation clinical pathway

The Constipation Clinical Pathway provides best-practice recommendations for children with suspected constipation who present for acute care. The pathway includes guidance on initial evaluation, identification of red flags for emergent diagnoses, management of fecal impaction, and discharge treatment recommendations by age group.

This pathway was created by a multidisciplinary team of experts, including emergency medicine providers, gastroenterologists, urgent care providers, pharmacists, nurses, and primary care physicians.

Highlights include:

• Identification of red flags for emergent medical and surgical conditions
• Guidance on age-based treatment recommendations for constipation and fecal impaction
• Recommendations to avoid routine abdominal radiographs in uncomplicated constipation