Referral Criteria for Paediatric Continence Service

Children are generally expected to be dry by a developmental age of 5 years.

Nocturnal enuresis is a term used for children and young people 5-19 years with bedwetting. Guidance indicates treatment options should be made available for children from 5 years of age. (NICE 2010)

• All children from 5-16 years with nocturnal enuresis should be considered for referral to the Paediatric Continence Service, with parent/carer/child/young person consent.
• They should reside within the boundary area of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
• A pre-assessment pro- forma should be completed prior to referral.
• Children with secondary enuresis should have recent systemic illness excluded as cause.

Constipation in childhood can manifest with a variety of symptoms ,most commonly these include, the infrequent passage of stool (less than 3 complete stools weekly),difficulty/pain when passing stool, passage of hard ,large stools or hard pellets (rabbit droppings), stool with-holding behaviours, abdominal discomfort and faecal incontinence.

Idiopathic constipation is described as constipation that cannot be explained by any anatomical or physiological abnormalities.

• Referral will be accepted for children 6/12 -16 years, from a general paediatrician, or emergency department doctor, underlying pathology or ‘red flag’ symptoms  should have been excluded and a diagnosis of idiopathic constipation made, with parent/carer/ child/young person consent.
• They should reside within the boundary area of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
• There should be no other diagnoses which impact on bowel function.