My son was doubled over in pain last night and we took him to the emergency room. They did an x-ray that showed distended bowel and so went on for a CT scan. He was vomiting also. The CT scan really only showed severe constipation and nothing more. No appendicitis. I'm wondering if anyone else has had this issue. He seemed to be having normal bowel movements so I was surprised to hear that he was so constipated. I'm grateful it was nothing more serious, but he went through a lot last night with getting an IV for the contrast dye and having to have the barium up him rectally since he couldn't drink it and keep it down orally. He was such a brave boy. Anyone else with such severe constipation problems and pain in their children?

My son has never had constipation that severe, but he sometimes does get constipated. I sneak Benefiber into his food occasionally just to keep him regular. You can put it into anything, drinks, pudding, oatmeal, etc. I use it when he gets constipated and as a preventative.
poor kid, I hope this helps.

My daughter had severe constipation when she was about 3 years old. It was sooooooooo bad I should have taken her to the ER,she was that bad. She slept on the toilet for 3 days. I mean she didn't get off it at all. She always felt like she had to go but couldn't. I had to buy some exlax. Which didn't seem to help at all until she ate all 18 pieces (the chocolate kind). It took 9 hours for it to happen but when it did it really did. She didn't have any more problems after that she was fine the next day. Go figure that one. I called poison control and they just said WATCH OUT. Boy were they right.
I would schedule an appt with a Gastroenterologist I did las week for my youngest daughter who had alot of constipation/diarrhea etc and she tested positive for Celiac Disease. I am glad I brought her there.
Good Luck

Id get a second opinion. It could be a bowel obstruction or even telescoping of the bowel, where one portion collapses in on itself. If he is pooping, then he's obviously not constipated.

Constipation is not just not going but also having small hard stools also. My daughter had this and she was constipated.

Well he has been fine since then and the Senokot I've given him has really cleaned him out. The poop was seen on the CAT scan so I know it was up in there. The barium itself actually relieved a lot of his pain when it was drained out. He has no more pain so I know it's not an obstruction or intussuseception (the telescoping) at this point.

No, this is not uncommon.
Did the hospital help with a clean out? Did they talk to you about any treatment for the future (exept the senna?)
Just check constipation or encopresis or soiling and you will find a wealth on informtion on this.
I am assuming this is the first time you were confronted with this? Because if not, you may want to visit a pediatric gastroenterologist!
My daughter is 8 and has severe constipation problems and because an extended bowel was seen on the XRay of your son I am thinking mega colon which will not go away with just one clean out...
But maybe this was just a one time event and even though this was horrible you will hopefully not have to go through it again!

Good luck,

karen