ABSTRACT
It has been thought that the term “<i>shukuben</i>” does not mean a simple constipation but rather that a substance is stagnating in the digestive tract despite ordinary defecation. However, there has been no concrete evidence for this <i>shukuben </i>definition.<br>The authors have obtained evidence for what may be one type of <i>shukuben</i>, by means of X-ray photography after an upper digestive tract examination using a barium sulfate contrast medium, in a patient with irritable bowel syndrome. The X-rays showed the contrast medium adhering to the colon wall three days post-examination despite subsequent diarrhea, suggesting one type of <i>shukuben</i>. In this paper, the authors also reported the result of a historical search for the term <i>shukuben </i>in the past medical textbooks, which revealed that the first description of this term is found in <i>hougizashi </i>and was described by Yodo Odai. We also considered that this term is a derivation of <i>shukushoku </i>meaning a stagnation of digestive tract contents.