SPINAL PATHWAYS SUBSERVING DEFAECATION AND SENSATION FROM THE LOWER BOWEL

Abstract

Tests were performed on 22 patients after anterolateral cordotomy to determine the status of motor function and sensation in the rectum and anus. Postmortem prepns. of the spinal cords were examined for fiber degeneration. Afferent pathways subserving pain from the rectum and anus and efferent pathways controlling defecation and its reflexes run bilaterally in the lateral horn. In the lumbar and thoracic regions they are located in a narrow band extending from the periphery of the cord to approx. the lateral horn of the gray matter at the dorsoventral level of the central canal. The lateral part is mainly afferent and the medial part efferent. In the cervical cord these pathways are more peripherally located at the same dorsoventral level.