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Your doctor may suggest tests to see if your child has constipation and to figure out what might be causing it. Your child won't need all of these tests, probably just one or two.

X-rays are pictures of the insides of your body. An X-ray of your child's abdomen shows the bowels and how much stool is in them.^{1 2 3}

An MRI scan can help show problems with your child's spinal cord, such as a tumor. Spinal cord problems can stop some nerves from working properly. Some nerves help control when you pass a stool or give you the feeling that you need to go. So if these nerves aren't working properly, it can lead to constipation.⁴

For this test, you'll need to collect a stool and send it to the lab. Doctors call this test a fecal occult blood test ("occult" here means hidden). Blood in the stools often comes from a tear in your child's anus from pushing out large stools. Rarely, the blood can come from a more serious problem, like bleeding in the bowel, ulcers or polyps.

This test measures how well the muscles and nerves in your child's rectum and anus work. Doctors call it anorectal manometry. It isn't used very often. Your child might have it to check for Hirschsprung's disease or to try to find out what's happening when your child tries to pass a stool.

During the test, a thin tube (called a catheter) is put into your child's rectum. A small balloon on the end is slowly filled up. This makes the muscles in your child's rectum and anus squeeze. Signals from the muscles are picked up by the catheter, and the strength of the squeeze is recorded by a machine. Your child might be asked to push and relax, as they do when passing a stool.⁵

This test can show how full your child's rectum has to be before their nerves realize it's time to empty it.

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment. ©BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2008. All rights reserved.