What is anorectal physiology testing?
Anorectal physiology testing involves several individual tests, including anorectal manometry, endoanal ultrasonography and pudendant nerve terminal motor latency. Anorectal manometry helps measure rectal sensation, compliance (stretchiness), muscle function and reflexes. It is carried out by inserting into the rectum a small tube that measures pressures. During the test, the tube is moved up and down a short distance to measure pressures in various parts of the rectum, both at rest and while the patient squeezes the pelvic muscles. Endoanal ultrasonography is an imaging study that looks at the anal sphincter muscle using sound waves, just like the kind of sonograms used in viewing fetuses. A small ultrasound probe is inserted into the rectum and takes an ultrasound picture of the muscle to see whether or not it has been torn. The test is not painful. Pudendant nerve terminal motor latency (PNTML) testing is a neurophysiological test in which a small electrode on a gloved finger is ins
