Can I control my bowel symptoms myself? The experience of controlling defaecation dysfunction among patients with rectal cancer after sphincter-saving surgery: a qualitative study

PURPOSE: To explore the experience of controlling defaecation dysfunction among patients with rectal cancer after sphincter-saving surgery. METHODS: This study applied a descriptive qualitative design. Thirty-six patients with rectal cancer were given semi-structured interviews in mainland China from February to July in 2019 after sphincter-saving surgery. Participants were recruited by purposive sampling. The thematic analysis approach was applied to analyse the transcripts. RESULTS: Three major themes emerged from the data were “having motivations of controlling defecation dysfunction”, “using strategies of controlling defecation dysfunction” and “facing barriers of controlling defecation dysfunction”. CONCLUSION: Defaecation dysfunction makes obvious problems for patients after sphincter-saving surgery, although patients tried some self-care methods to cope with the defaecation dysfunction, some barriers still exist in the process of self-controlling of bowel symptoms. There is a strong demand for a systematic and scientific guideline for the self-management of defaecation dysfunction.