Sleep Disorder Caused by Proctalgia Fugax

Received December 8, 2014 Revised December 11, 2014 Accepted December 11, 2014 Address for correspondence Yang-Je Cho, MD Department of Neurology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50-1 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-752, Korea Tel: +82-2-2228-1600 Fax: +82-2-393-0705 E-mail: choyj@yuhs.ac Proctalgia fugax is characterized by severe cramp like pain in anorectal area. It is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder, but symptoms of proctalgia fugax are usually too brief and mild to refer to physicians. However, a few patients with severe proctalgia fugax attack could suffer from recurrent wakening. Our patient complained recurrent brief and sharp anorectal pain occurring predominantly during sleep. He underwent an overnight polysomnography and magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. Also, for excluding anorectal organic lesion, we performed colonoscopy and physical examination. But, there were no pathologic finding and he was clinically diagnosed with proctalgia fugax. We describe the rare case of sleep disorder, caused by proctalgia fugax. J Korean Sleep Res Soc 2014;11(2):69-71