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Enema
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An enema (plural enemata or enemas) is the procedure of introducing liquids into the rectum and colon via the anus.
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An enema (plural enemata or enemas) is the procedure of introducing liquids into the rectum and colon via the anus. Enemas can be carried out for medical reasons (as a treatment for constipation) as a remedy for encopresis, as part of alternative health therapies, as punishment, and also for erotic purposes, particularly to prepare for anal sex, and as part of BDSM activities. In earlier times, they were often known as clysters, and were probably used more frequently than at present.
History
Clyster (also spelled in the 17th Century, `glister') is an old-fashioned word for enema, more particularly for enemas administered using a clyster syringe — that is, a syringe with a rectal nozzle and a plunger. Clyster syringes were used from the 17th century (or before) to the 19th century, when they were largely replaced by enema bulb syringes, bocks, and bags.
The patient was placed in an appropriate position (kneeling, with the buttocks raised, or lying on the side); some servant or apothecary would then insert the nozzle into the anus and depress the plunger, resulting in the liquid remedy (generally, water, but also some preparations) being injected into the colon.
Because of the embarrassment a woman might feel when showing her buttocks (and possibly her genitals, depending on the position) to a male apothecary, some contraptions were invented that blocked all from the apothecary's view except for the anal area. Another invention was syringes equipped with a special bent nozzle, which enabled self-administration, thereby eliminating the embarrassment.
Clysters were administered for symptoms of constipation and, with more questionable effectiveness, stomach aches and other illnesses. In his early-modern treatise, The Diseases of Women with Child, Francis Mauriceau records that both midwives and man-midwives commonly administered clysters to labouring mothers just prior to their delivery.
In Roper's biography of his father-in-law Sir Thomas More, he tells of Thomas More's eldest daughter falling sick of the sweating sickness and could not be awakened by doctors. After praying, it came to Thomas More "There straightway it came into his mind that a clyster would be the one way to help her, which when he told the physicians, they at once confessed that if there were any hope of health, it was the very best help indeed, much marveling among themselves that they had not afore remembered it." -- Utopia, Thomas More.
Clysters were a favourite medical treatment in the bourgeoisie and nobility of the Western world up to the 19th century. As medical knowledge was fairly limited in those days, purgative clysters were used for a wide variety of ailments, the foremost of which were stomach aches and constipation.
Molière, in several of his plays, introduces characters of incompetent physicians and apothecaries fond of prescribing this remedy, also discussed by Argan, the hypochondriac patient of Le Malade Imaginaire. More generally, clysters were a theme in the burlesque comedies of that time.
Clysters are famously referred to in the conclusion of John Donne's Elegy XVIII, where the male persona warns against taking a 'wrong turn' when engaging in sexual activity, lest the unfortunate male penetrate the 'clyster' orifice.
According to Claude de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, clysters were so popular at the court of King Louis XIV of France that the duchess of Burgundy had her servant give her a clyster in front of the King (her modesty being preserved by an adequate posture) before going to the comedy.
Clysters also appear in sado-masochistic literature set during this period, where they are administered for disciplinary purposes. Girls especially were punished by being made to retain a large clyster for a specified time. An example is found in P.N. Dedeaux's The Prussian Girls. Castigation and embarrassment would follow failure to retain the solution.
William Laighton of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, obtained a patent for an enema chair on August 8, 1846. Upon receiving the patent, Laighton told his assembled colleagues that if the world were to receive an enema, Gloversville, New York would be the insertion point.
Medical usage
The main medical usages of enemas are:
- As a bowel stimulant, not unlike a laxative – the main difference being that laxatives are commonly thought of as orally administered while enemas are administered directly into the rectum, and thereafter, into the colon. When the enema injection into the rectum is complete, and after a set "holding time", the patient expels feces along with the enema in the bedpan or toilet.
- Enemas may also be used to relieve constipation and fecal impaction, although in the U.S.A. and some other parts of the world, their use has been replaced in most professional health-care settings by oral laxatives and laxative suppositories. In-home use of enemas for constipation and alternative health purposes is somewhat harder to measure.
- Bowel stimulating enemas usually consist of water, which works primarily as a mechanical stimulant, or they may be made up of water with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) or water with a mild hand soap dissolved in it; sodium phosphate solution, which draws additional water from the bloodstream into the colon and increases the effectiveness of the enema -which often can be rather irritating to the colon, causing intense cramping or "gripping"- or mineral oil, which functions as a lubricant and stool softener, but which often has the side effect of sporadic seepage from the patient's anus which can soil the patient's undergarments for up to 24 hours. Other types of enema solutions are also used, including equal parts of milk and molasses heated together to slightly above normal body temperature. In the past, castile soap was a common additive in an enema, but it has largely fallen out of use because of its irritating action in the rectum and because of the risk of chemical colitis as well as the ready availability of other enema preparations that are perhaps more effective than soap in stimulating a bowel movement. At the opposite end of the spectrum, an isotonic saline solution is least irritating to the rectum and colon, having a neutral concentration gradient. This neither draws electrolytes from the body -as can happen with plain water- nor draws water into the colon, as will occur with phosphates. Thus, a salt water solution can be used when a longer period of retention is desired, such as to soften an impaction.
- Cleansing the lower bowel prior to a surgical procedure such as sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy. Because of speed and supposed convenience, enemas used for this purpose are commonly the more costly, sodium phosphate variety – often called a disposable enema. A more pleasant experience preparing for testing procedures can usually be obtained with gently-administered baking soda enemas; cleansing the lower bowel for colonoscopy and other bowel studies can be effectively achieved with water-based -or water with baking soda- enema administration.
- The administration of substances into the bloodstream. This may be done in situations where it is undesirable or impossible to deliver a medication by mouth, such as antiemetics given to reduce nausea (though not many antiemetics are delivered by enema). Additionally, several anti-angiogenic agents, which work better without digestion, can be safely administered via a gentle enema. Medicines for cancer, for arthritis, and for age-related macular degeneration are often given via enema in order to avoid the normally-functioning digestive tract. Interestingly, some water-based enemas are also used as a relieving agent for Irritable Bowel Syndrome, using cayenne pepper to squelch irritation in the colon and rectal area. Finally, an enema may also be used for hydration purposes. See also route of administration.
- The topical administration of medications into the rectum, such as corticosteroids and mesalazine used in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Administration by enema avoids having the medication pass through the entire gastrointestinal tract, therefore simplifying the delivery of the medication to the affected area and limiting the amount that is absorbed into the bloodstream.
- General anesthetic agents for surgical purposes are sometimes administered by way of an enema. Occasionally, anesthetic agents are used rectally to reduce medically-induced vomiting during and after surgical procedures, in an attempt to avoid aspiration of stomach contents.
- A barium enema is used as a contrast substance in the radiological imaging of the bowel. The enema may contain barium sulfate powder, or a water-soluble contrast agent. Barium enemas are sometimes the only practical way to "view" the colon in a relatively safe manner. Following barium enema administration, patients often find that flushing the remaining barium with additional water, baking soda, or saline enemas helps restore normal colon activity without complications of constipation from the administration of the barium sulfate.
In certain countries such as the United States, customary enema usage went well into the 20th century; it was thought a good idea to cleanse the bowel in case of fever; also, pregnant women were given enemas prior to labor, supposedly to reduce the risk of feces being passed during contractions. Under some controversial discussion, pre-delivery enemas were also given to women to speed delivery by inducing contractions. This latter usage has since been largely abandoned, because obstetricians now commonly give oxytocin to induce labor and because women generally found the procedure unpleasant.
Now obsolete, the tobacco smoke enema was the principal medical method for resuscitating victims of drowning during the 18th century.
Home usage
Many self-given enemas used at home are the pre-packaged, disposable, sodium phosphate solutions in single-use bottles sold under a variety of brand names, or in generic formats. These units come with a pre-lubricated nozzle attached to the top of the container. Some enemas are administered using so-called disposable bags connected to disposable tubing (despite the names, such units can commonly be used for many months or years without significant deterioration).
Patients who want easier, more gently-accepted enemas often purchase Combination Enema Syringes which are commonly referred to as "closed top" syringes, and which can also be used as old-fashioned hot water bottles, so as to relieve aches and pains via gentle heat administrations to parts of the body. Cost for each enema can be as little as the cost of baking soda added to ordinary tap water.
In medical or hospital environments, reusable enema equipment is now rare because of the expense of disinfecting a water-based solution. For a single-patient stay of short duration, an inexpensive disposable enema bag can be used for several days or weeks, using a simple rinse out procedure after each enema administration. The difficulty comes in from the longer time period (and expense) required of nursing aides to give a gentle, water-based enema to a patient, as compared to the very few minutes it takes the same nursing aide to give the more irritating, cold, pre-packaged sodium phosphate unit.
For home use, disposable enema bottle units are common, but reusable rubber or vinyl bags or enema bulbs may also be used. In former times, enemas were infrequently administered using clyster syringes. If such commercially-available items are not at hand, ordinary water bottles are sometimes used.
Alternative medicine
The term "colonic irrigation" is commonly used in gastroenterology to refer to the practice of introducing water through a colostomy or a surgically constructed conduit as a treatment for constipation. The Food and Drug Administration has ruled that colonic irrigation equipment is not approved for sale for the purpose of general well-being and has taken action against many distributors of this equipment. The use of enemas for reasons other than the relief of constipation is currently regulated in some parts of the United States while practitioners in other states may go through a voluntary certification process.
Colon cleansing
The same term is also used in alternative medicine where it may involve the use of substances mixed with water in order to detoxify the body. Practitioners believe the accumulation of fecal matter in the large intestine leads to ill health. This resurrects the old medical concept of autointoxication which was orthodox doctrine up to the end of the 19th century but which has now been discredited.
Coffee enemas
In the controversial Gerson therapy, coffee enemas are administered. These enemas are believed to have caused three deaths in the United States.
Rectal drug administration
An enema might be used to clean the colon of feces first to help increase the rate of absorption in rectal administration of dissolved drugs, including alcohol.
Enemas have also been used for ritual rectal drug administration such as balché, alcohol, tobacco, peyote, and other hallucinogenic drugs and entheogens, most notably by the Mayans and also some other American Indian tribes. Some tribes continue the practice in the present day.
People who wish to become intoxicated faster have also been known to use enemas as a method to instill alcohol into the bloodstream, absorbed through the membranes of the colon. However, great care must be taken as to the amount of alcohol used. Only a small amount is needed as the intestine absorbs the alcohol more quickly than the stomach. Deaths have resulted due to alcohol poisoning via enema.
Recreational usage
The paraphilia directed towards enemas is known as klismaphilia, the enjoyment of enemas.
Enemas may be used as part of BDSM activities, or as a regular sexual activity for an individual or between partners. In many cities, enemas are available as a service from practitioners in the sex industry to cater to human sexual desires. Enemas can be pleasurable to either sex, and in males, enemas can stimulate the prostate gland. Unexpected erections are common in medical settings, even if the person would otherwise consider it an unpleasant procedure.
An enema may also be used prior to anal sex or anilingus in order to enhance the sensation of intercourse, or to remove feces prior to sex, possibly reducing bacterial transmission and risk of infection, or just to reduce the possibility of fecal material adhering to the genitals or sex toys used during the subsequent activity.
Punitive usage
Antagonistic factions in unstable nations have often forcibly applied enemas as a means of punishment. In the vastly influential Latin American text Facundo, or Civilization and Barbarism, for example, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento describes the use of pepper and turpentine enemas by police forces as a way of discouraging political dissent in post-Independence Argentina.
Precautions
Improper administration of an enema may cause electrolyte imbalance (with repeated enemas) or ruptures to the bowel or rectal tissues resulting in internal bleeding, however these occurrences are rare in healthy, sober adults. Internal bleeding or rupture may leave the individual exposed to infections from intestinal bacteria. Blood resulting from tears in the colon may not always be visible, but can be distinguished if the feces are unusually dark or have a red hue. If intestinal rupture is suspected, medical assistance should be obtained immediately.
The enema tube and solution may stimulate the vagus nerve, which triggers an arrhythmia such as bradycardia. Enemas should not be used if there is an undiagnosed abdominal pain since the peristalsis of the bowel can cause an inflamed appendix to rupture.
Colonic irrigation should not be used in people with diverticulitis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, severe or internal hemorrhoids or tumors in the rectum or colon. It also should not be used soon after bowel surgery (unless directed by one's health care provider). Regular treatments should be avoided by people with heart disease or renal failure. Colonics are inappropriate for people with bowel, rectal or anal pathologies where the pathology contributes to the risk of bowel perforation.
See also
Footnotes
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