Creatorrhea

Creatorrhea is the abnormal excretion of muscle fibre in feces.^[1] The term is made from the prefix creat- or creato- which comes from Greek kreas meaning flesh. The suffix -rrhea (or -rrhoea) comes from Greek -rrhoia meaning flow, hence discharge.

Digestion of food is achieved through a mixture of mechanical and chemical processes. Failure to produce or secrete chemicals known as digestive enzymes can lead to failure digesting or breaking down specific components of ingested food.

Where there is a failure to produce,release,or convert trypsinogen - an inactive enzyme precursor or zymogen - muscle fibres are not properly digested and are therefore released in the feces. Trypsinogen is produced in the pancreas and released into the alimentary canal where it is converted to the active enzyme trypsin.^[2] Inflammation of the pancreas, or pancreatitis can therefore precipitate this condition,^[3] as can cystic fibrosis^[4] which also effects the production of digestive enzymes.

References

1. ^ "The Free Dictionary Definition", http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/creatorrhea
2. ^ Brown, Thomas A. "Rapid Review Physiology." Mosby Elsevier, 1st Ed. p. 244
3. ^ "Merck Mannual - ", Pancreatitis Entry' with Reference to Creatorrhea
4. ^ "Gow R, Francis P, Bradbear R, et al.,-Comparative study of varying regimes to improve steatorrhea and creatorrhea in cystic fibrosis: effectiveness of an enteric-coated preparation with and without antacids and cimetidine-, Lancet (1981), 2: pp. 1,071-1,074."