I was having upper GI/small bowel problems, among them fat malabsorption. We were working up Crohn's or Celiac Sprue at the time.
I was curious, because the very vulnerable state of the patient in the exam would probably appeal to many here, and I am wondering if anyone enjoyed it. For me, I think it would have turned me on reading about it before-hand, but the actual procedure was not any fun at all.
In my case, the prep (mag citrate, 20mg PO Biscodyl and a Biscodyl suppository) messed me up so much that I could not even close my anal sphincter, it was all inflamed and I was basically incontinent.
I was already having continence/accident problems; that is one reason I had finally gone in to have things worked up, and I had been leaking and worn a diaper to the procedure, but I thought I was totally empty and threw it away/got cleaned up when I stripped and changed into the gown. In any case, I was told "everything off, including socks", so that was that. Any leakage on the table was therefore their problem.
I was working in medicine at the time (I had just about completed premed, but I had also spent four years working in a surgical area) so I knew the "behind the scenes" chatter about patients--worse at a trauma center where if you're not nearly dead, some staff looks at you as a waste of their time. I had put off being seen until things were severe.
Placing the dobhoff tube for the barium was HELL. I was doing my best, but it was torture as they tried to feed it down through my nose (really bad deviated septum, they tried the bigger nostril and it got stuck, so they had to pull it back and try the smaller one). Once they got it into my stomach, it coils and coils until they get the tube out through the pyloric sphincter into the jejunum.
Well, in my case every time the tip of the tube hit the cardiac sphincter, I would vomit. There was nothing I could do about it. It was all down the front of me, the tech and the radiologist. I was very embarrassed, and had never felt more vulnerable. It took a long time.
We finally got it done, and the transit time of the barium was under five minutes. I barely managed to hold it until I was off the table. I know for a fact I was starting to leak as I dashed from the table to the adjoining bathroom.
I was in there a while, they started another case (thankfully there were two bathrooms off the fluoro room). They stopped by and knocked a couple times, asking if I was okay.
When I finally thought I was totally empty, I put on a new diaper (this was before the modern "protective underwear" like I use now, these were thick and green and I reserved them for when things were bad...turned out to be fortunate, as what I use now would have been worthless).
I went down to the cafeteria to get some frozen yogurt, as I had a really sore throat and wanted to get the taste/smell of the lidocane out of my mouth. I was standing in line to pay, and I suddenly had the urge to go to the bathroom. Like, right now.
With no way to control it, the barium just poured out of me and into the diaper, right there in the line. I don't know how much there was, but it felt like a liter (probably more like half that). The spasm stopped, I paid, and I knew I needed to stop by the bathroom. While trying to walk to the nearest one, I had one episode after another. Totally out of control.
I made it to the bathroom but seemed to finally be empty. Thankfully, I had brought my bookbag with me and I had hidden an emergency diaper down in one pocket as I had already had some small accidents on campus before this. It was a little messed up, but it would work to get me home; the one I had on was totally saturated.
Well, I left the hospital and started walking back to my apartment and it just started pouring out of me again. I had some bad gas pain (they had inflated my stomach with CO2) and I let the gas out, and that was followed by "surprise" barium.
I walked up the hill toward home, and it was just a constant leak. By the time I reached the elevator, my pants felt heavy and were starting to pull down from the weight (I lived in an apartment building on campus about two blocks from the hospital). I ended up having to hold up my pants because I could tell it was all about to break loose.
I made it inside, dropped my pants in the bathroom and the rest poured out. I spent the rest of the day, until I had to go to work, either sitting pantless on towels or the toilet. When I had to walk to the bathroom, I had to press a towel against my anus to keep it shut.
Amazingly, I had not leaked into my pants at all. I just got a white streak of barium up the inside-back when I pulled them off.
But, it was not a fun day. I had to go to work later, and I could not wear diapers under my scrubs (this was before the ones with the "cloth like" coating like they have now), and it would have been very obvious. So I wore two pairs of underwear with maxi-pads and was on super alert to rush to the bathroom at the slightest rumble. But I did okay that night.
I have no doubt that it was the prep that had messed me up so badly; an already irritated GI tract combined with the biscodyl suppository just left me unable to close the valves anymore.
The amazing thing is that four years later, I let them do it again.....