Established in October 2010, The Johns Hopkins Children’s Center offers a specialized clinic dedicated to helping children and teens (ages 2 to 20) overcome chronic constipation. Our team combines the expertise of pediatric gastroenterology and medical psychology to provide comprehensive care. 

Lisa Santo Domingo, DNP, MSN, RN, CPNP-PC, and Erika Chiappini, Ph.D., work together to address both the medical and behavioral aspects of constipation. We offer state-of-the-art evaluation and treatment, including:

• Initial cleanout and medication maintenance plan
• Scheduled toilet sitting with reinforcement 
• Goal setting and behavior modification
• Toilet training and reinforcement

Research shows that this combined approach leads to significant improvements in constipation and related issues like fecal incontinence. Our groundbreaking study, "Outcomes of Combined Medical and Behavioral Treatments for Constipation Within a Specialty Outpatient Clinic," highlights the effectiveness of our multidisciplinary approach and demonstrates that a multidisciplinary approach combining advanced practice nursing and psychology effectively treats childhood constipation. Patients experienced significant reductions in bowel accidents, abdominal pain, and diaper use.

Learn more about this study.

Does Your Child Have Chronic Constipation?

Chronic constipation is a common but often misunderstood condition in children. It's characterized by infrequent, hard-to-pass stools, and can significantly impact a child's quality of life.

Signs of chronic constipation include:

• Infrequent bowel movements: Less than three bowel movements per week.
• Painful bowel movements: Experiencing discomfort or pain when passing stool.
• Hard, dry stools: Difficulty passing stools due to their consistency.
• Stool incontinence: Accidents despite toilet training.
• Avoiding bowel movements: Deliberately withholding stool.
• Encopresis: Leaking stool into underwear.

It is important to note that even children who have daily bowel movements can experience constipation. If your child is not completely emptying their bowels, they may still be constipated, which can lead to stool accidents.

How to Make an Appointment

To schedule an appointment at the Pediatric Multidisciplinary Chronic Constipation Clinic, please call 443-997-5437 and select option 2, then option 11.

To ensure we can allocate enough time for you and your child, we kindly ask that you arrive on time for your appointment. If you are more than 15 minutes late, we may need to reschedule.

We understand that unexpected things happen. If you need to cancel your appointment, please provide us with 24 to 48 hours notice.

To maximize your appointment time, please silence your phone and pager during your visit. We also recommend arranging childcare for other children if possible.

We look forward to helping your family!