Everyone Healthy Library
Anal Atresia
Condition / disease reference page from the Everyone Healthy database.
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Connected health information
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Condition overview
Attributes
Commonalityis rare
Incidenceis approximately 1 in 3,500 people
Linked signs and symptoms
3Each sign/symptom opens its own page and links back to related conditions.
Linked drugs / medications
0No linked drugs are listed yet.
Treatments, therapies and supportive options
0Grouped by treatment type. These are educational database links, not personal treatment recommendations. Evidence labels are shown only where stored in the EH database.
No linked treatment or supportive options are listed yet.
Linked diagnostic tests and investigations
5These are pulled from both EH diagnostic-test link tables, including the older large test-link table.
Biological markers/agents
1This visual map shows biological markers/agents reported as increased or decreased with this condition. These are educational relationships only; test results must be interpreted by a qualified clinician because ranges vary by lab, method, age, sex and clinical context.
Often decreased
0No markers in this group.
Introduction / full article
Anal Atresia
Anal Atresia
Anal atresia is a defect of the digestive system in newborn babies, wherein the anus is malformed; either narrowed or obstructed. In many cases, an abnormal passage (fistula) is also formed between the anus and the urethra, bladder or vagina.
Symptoms and diagnosis
Most babies with anal atresia are unable to defecate normally. Eventually, an obstruction in the intestine forms.
The condition involves very obvious defects, and can be easily detected by doctors upon inspection of the baby’s anus at birth.
X-ray imaging can also enable doctors to locate and identify fistulae.
Treatment
Anal atresia often requires immediate surgery. This enables faeces to pass, while closing the fistula.