One of the most typical symptoms of constipation is overflow diarrhea, it occurs when the feces become so hard that they cannot be expelled and fecal fluid will flow around the block.

There are a number of features that clinically characterize overflow diarrhea, also called spurious diarrhea:
1. Only fluids are expelled.
2. It most often has the colour of feces.
3. It is not accompanied by abdominal pain.
4. It is often difficult for the patient to reach the toilet before it is expelled.
5. If a gloved finger is put down into the fluid it will feel threadlike due to mucus in the stool.
6. The patient does not have fever.

Adapted from Patient. Constipation. Symptom control. Internet. Accessed on September 19, 2011.