The Flatus Tube - Yet Another "Medical Marvel" to slide into obscurity ! Or has it ??

The idea of using a light bulb to keep an enema can warm is not dangerous, as long as the socket is proper and the lamp unbroken. I'd expect a Harris flush is a pretty good way of opening up a patient's colon and removing gas.

If you want to keep your bag warm just use a heating pad on low great on winter nights

Someone here (can't recall who) had recently mentioned they were no longer able to find the longer colon / rectal tubes. . So if that person should read this thread there is a link to an English medical goods supplier that should be able to provide the required item !

My wife was in the hospital for maternity issues. She had contractions so they hospitalized her but she later went home for another week or two.

In the bed next to her was a cute girl that had just given birth. The nurse came in and asked her if she was ready for her procedure. She deferred and I continued to visit. I figured out later she wanted me to leave first. About 15 minutes later the nurse came in with an enema bag and pulled the drapes. She explained the procedure in detail.

Apparently the girl had bad gas so they were going to give her an enema and then drop the bag below her bottom to let the water drain back in and pull the gas out. She then explained she would raise the bag again and reintroduce the water. This cycle would be repeated several times. I believe this is called a Harris Flush.

I got kicked out at that point but she later told my wife she never shit so much in her life.

@Moppys_jalopy

Yes, it is called a Harris Flush. I didn't know they were done any more, but I don't see any reason why it couldn't be done with a disposable enema bag. The nozzles on those bags are essentially a Fr 24 catheter and can be inserted far higher than the customary 4" o 6" for an enema

Just thinking of a recent discussion about expensive farts in a jar, the Flatus tube would be employed for the task of extracting gas

The gear used was manufactured by CIG which stood for Commonwealth Industrial Gas's . . . emphasis on the Industrial 😁

Update : (said with tongue in cheek . .lol) The pommies (English) made a bid for CIG & were successful in taking over . . Now known as BOC Gas's

@That_Australian

If one has eaten beans or something and have a lot of gas, a Flatus Bag is a real help. I've slept with one a few times. The only caution is, after the lubed tube is in you about 6", be sure to tape the tube to a buttock so it doesn't slip out overnight. It is likely there will be some loose poo in the bag in the morning.

I've not observed a gasbag being used for the purposes of alleviating gas.That aside, the type of product mostly found here for clinical and surgical applications are best described as soft vinyl translucent Flatus Bags. These goods are obtainable through a number of outlets & are usually found attached to the underside rails of a hospital bed > post operative

Those that i have seen were mainly the large heavy glass canister type supplied with a soft white plastic coated steel frame, which sometime later were replaced by clear polyethylene plastics & not all that dissimilar in appearance to a large olive container measuring approx 12" tall X 6" dia & a 4 inch dia threaded screw top lid.

I've got a couple of them sitting in the pantry, used as storage containers, bought at the markets for very little money. The stall owner/ sellers hadn't a clue what they were 😁

After my last colonoscopy, I woke up to one of these being snaked up my butt. Pretty sure she got it in pretty far.

Video demonstration of the Harris Flush procedure https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B5Xrt8os-7Y

Update :

Seems mediquip UK have discontinued their range of latex rubber Flatus Tubes (very, very few mfgs today supply 48" long rubber FT's) and replaced them with soft clear plastics Rectal Tubes ... closed end with 2 offset side ports

Curious to know if they've retained "dated" stock as some do ... maybe an email is in order as theres other items of interest for some time

To some it may seem a long way to go, however the organisation is one of the few places left anywhere where you can still purchase (singular) Clay Red latex rubber Douche tubes (nozzles) old fashioned style & they are inexpensive

Some new Hoffman gate clamps & poly tap units are also a consideration

I think a red rubber ones can be found on Amazon as a Retention Depezzer Colon Tube - Rubber - 26Fr

Video demonstration of the Harris Flush procedure https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B5Xrt8os-7Y

Back in the 1930's they used to put an electric lightbulb in the solution to maintain body temp. Wonder how many accidental anal cauterizations they did?

https://oldfoolrn.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-shocking-enema-known-as-harris-flush.html

From the article: THE HARRIS DRIP Equipment:

3 feet rubber tubiing, Irrigating can, Rectal tube with Vaseline ( I guess lubafax was yet to be invented. We received demerits if Vaseline got anywhere near rubber tubing because it caused deterioration and could bankrupt the hospital and don't even think about using a pair of those budget busting gloves!). Emesis Basin, Clamp, Towel

Extension cord and light, 1 inch strips to tie the electric light, 2 Large safety pins, Fire extinguisher Better to be safe than sorry)

XLR ... Reserved for further comment .... Later

Thanks for the link ... The blog itself is worth a read as there are other informative comments dealing with other medical articles

I liked blog spot owners use of a quote as her display page heading ... humorous !!

" The amazing thing about young fools is how many survive to become old fools"

~ Doug Lauer

The first I knew of this procedure was after our first child was born (1980). My wife had a C section after an extended labor and was hospitalized. She called me in the morning and said she had had tremendous gas pains overnight and her nurse had treated her with return flow enemas. I had never heard of this, but was very interested. My wife was always lukewarm on enemas, but tolerated them.

I got dressed and headed into the hospital. I was holding our infant daughter when a nurse came in and said can I offer you another enema. My wife said she had gas pains and would like one. The nurse used a plastic enema bucket, about half full, raising it and lowering it removing copious amounts of gas.

When we took our new baby home my mother-in-law provided the same therapy (she was a nursing manager at another local hospital).

Fast forward to my own experience. I had an umbilical hernia which required surgery. This was in the mid 80’s so overnight in the hospital was still allowed. The morning after the surgery my doctor offered me an enema before discharge. When the nurse came in she asked if I would like a return flow first to remove gas distention. Being a committed klismo I jumped at the chance. It was a marvelous experience. It was followed by a soapsuds enema to clear my bowels. I had never heard the expression Harris Flush until I bought a rectal tube at a medical supply store.

I remember sometime back in the early 90s, my cousin had his appendix removed. He had let it get so bad that it had almost turned gangrene. He was in the hospital for about two weeks on intravenous antibiotics. They wouldn’t give him solid food for 5 of those days, just Jello and broth, and ice cream.

Then one morning soon after, the surgeon came by to check on his progress. He decided that my cousin could start back on some solid food. The nurse told him she disagreed, that he was still too sore at his incision, and solid food might bloat him and hurt him more. Nevertheless the surgeon ordered a light meal of solids, to the young nurse’s dismay. I think she already knew how it was going to play out.

Around 11:45AM, my cousin’s food tray was delivered to his room. There was a small styrofoam bowl of green beans, a dinner roll, a little container of orange sherbet, and a glass of ice tea. He was so hungry he wolfed it down in just a couple minutes. His nurse told him to call her immediately if he started hurting.

He watched television for a few minutes, then noticed his stomach started growling. It kept on growling more and he started to feel bloated. He said he could sit there and watch his belly slowly rise under his gown. He tried to fart, but he was too sore to squeeze one out. The pressure was starting to push on the incision, and it was hurting him. So he hit the call button in desperation.

“What can I do for you Mr. Blackwelder?” the nurse asked. My cousin said “come in here and save my life if you can!” She quickly came to his room, and could immediately tell he was severely bloated. She pulled down the sheets and raised his gown. He was naked as a jay bird, laying there with his junk showing plain as day, but he was in too much pain to really give a damn. The nurse felt of his abdomen and how distended he was. She said “yeah, I figured this would happen.” She told my cousin “just hang in there honey, I’ll be right back.” She left the room in a quick pace while my cousin grimaced with every breath.

The nurse quickly returned with a small clear plastic bag that had a tube attached the width of an end finger. She also had a tube of lubricating jelly, and he knew then what she was about to do …. or where that long tube was about to go. She explained to him what a flatus bag was, and that she needed to insert a tube several inches up his rectum to relieve him of the excessive gas.

He said she apologized to him several times she had to do him this way. In most any other situation he would have put up a big fuss having this done. But now he was miserable enough to welcome having her do it. She tried to get him rolled over on to his side, but he was too sore to turn. So she had him raise his knees with his feet on the mattress. He did it with a lot of difficulty. She parted his cheeks and somehow found the puckered target right away. He said he barely felt her enter him with the long tube. Then he watched her deftly slip several more inches of tube up his rectum until a loud gurgling noise could be heard inside the clear bag.

She said “BINGO!…there it is.” She nudged the tube into him just a little more, and the little valve inside the bag made another longer sound, almost like it played a tune 🤣. When this happened, he felt instant relief. He expressed his embarrassment to the nurse, but she just shrugged it off like it was nothing. She told my cousin “you’d be surprised how many times we have to do this to patients who have surgery, then develop excessive gas. I’ve already had to do it to two other patients this week.”

She taped the tube to his buttocks to keep it from slipping out. He didn’t figure it would come out anyway because she stuck it up his butt really deep. She told him she’d come back in 30 minutes to take it out. She hid the bag and tube under his covers because he was expecting visitors any minute, and she didn’t want to embarrass him any more.

Not more than 5 minutes after the nurse walked out, my cousin’s girlfriend arrived. She pulled up his gown to look at his incision, completely indifferent to his exposed genitals because she’d seen him naked hundreds of times already. A few minutes passed while they talked and another loud gurgle from the bag could be heard. His girlfriend said “what was that??!!”. My cousin grinned and said “don’t worry about it “. Another gurgle was heard and she asked “what’s going on under there??!!” That’s when he told her about the flatus bag and the reason he had one inserted.

She lifted the covers to find a clear inflated bag with a tube that disappeared up his asshole. She about blurted out laughing, but caught herself. My cousin told her not to tell anyone. She promised she wouldn’t, but asked him “does it hurt?” He told her he barely felt the nurse put it in. No sooner than he said that, the nurse returned to take it out. She was going to make his girlfriend leave the room, but he told her she’s already seen it.

His girlfriend stood back to observe the nurse remove the tube from her boyfriend’s asshole. She watched in disbelief as the nurse slowly withdrew what looked like 12-15 inches of tubing covered in brownish-yellow slime out of my cousin’s upturned butt. The nurse put the entire apparatus in a biohazard bag and threw it in the trash. She got him settled and informed him not to be surprised if she needed to insert another tube a couple hours later.

After she left his girlfriend asked him… “are you sure that didn’t hurt? That was an awful lot of tube she took out of your ass!” He told her “I barely felt it going in.” They later joked about getting the bag full of gas out of the garbage can, then rigging it up so he could blow the contents into his brother’s face when he visited. The nurse didn’t have to insert another tube.