대한대장항문학회

Propose : The rectum is a unique visceral organ, of which afferents are not so<br>obvious. In anorectal surgery ablating the rectum and/or perirectal structure, this issue<br>comes with significant meaning about whether to preserve patient's normal defecatory<br>function, or not. So we planned this study to evaluate which nervous system concerns<br>the afferents from the rectum. Method : We recorded cerebral evoked potential (EPs) in<br>16 healthy male subjects after electrical and mechanical stimaulation of the rectum, and<br>compared their waving patterns regarding latencies and amplitudes of each peak with<br>those occuring after electrical stimulation of the pudendal nerve. Results : The EPs after<br>electrical stimulation of the rectum showed distinctly different waving patterns in<br>comparison to those after electrical stimulation of the pudendal nerve. But the EPs after<br>mechanical stimulation of the rectum showed very similar waving patterns with those<br>after electrical stimulation of the pudendal nerve. Conclusions : Rectal afferents of<br>mechanical stimulation seem to be somatosensory, but those of electrical stimulation<br>seem visceral. In that sense, sensory receptors of mechanical stimulation may lie in the<br>perirectal structure, such as pelvic floor muscle and those of electrical stimulation lie in<br>the rectum, itself.<br>