Rectal tubes

Was looking on ebay the other day and happen to see a Higginson enema kit syringe. with this kit they had with it a enema rubber rectal tube. this tube kind of looked like a catheter . also it looked to be around fifteen or sixteen inches long. can anyone shed some light on how this rectal tube is used?

The tube is inserted into the rectum for a deeper enema.

A rectal tube is like a short colon tube. The difference is the length.

Rectal tubes are traditionally 12-20 Inches and a colon tube is traditionally 30-50 inches but now, with custom tubes, can be six feet long. Of course all of it won't be inserted.

Occasionally rectal tubes are inserted in patients having severe watery diarrhea for more convenient drainage. Not apropos to your query but it is another use for a rectal tube.

Yes, they are left in in cases like severe diarrhea. When they have C-Diff for example. A tush can get pretty sore pretty fast when all you do is poop.

Mashie

I prefer a rectal tube so more of the solution can go up into the colon instead of first pooling in the rectum. For me it reduces the pressure to release sooner than when using a nozzle. The tube I use is a 24Fr. about 15 inches with rounded tip and eyelet on the side -- soft and flexible, easy to insert. When I'm bound up, the "problem" tends to start where my transverse and descending colon meet. I had a barium enema in my 20s when I was having a lot of GI pain and they told me that curve was slightly narrow. A nurse at the time recommended using a rectal tube when taking an enema. She gave me the name of a medical supply, and I remember the clerk, an older woman, opening a drawer filled with long rubber tubes. I was beyond embarrassed for buying such a thing! The clerk was so calm and matter of fact, like I was buying shoes. Lol. She said I shouldn't need a tube longer than a 15 to 18 inches. She was a retired nurse who had given thousands of enemas.

The explanation relating to Rectal tubes is correct from a clinical standpoint as they are often found identified in Nursing manuals spread over several decades.

Mostly of Rubber, shorter than colon tubes & having a closed bullet like tip with its outlet port to one side. Some models (presumably import) have two ports that are staggered as you might find with the later clear Nelaton rectal tubes.

Decades ago in a hospital or sanitarium, when you were going to get an enema, you’d look up from your bed to see a nurse lubing the tip of a long rubber tube that she was preparing to glide up your behind. The thought of the nurse inserting a rectal or colon tube its full length would be pretty scary.

However, the reality of one of those tubes going higher up is that a nurse could give a more thorough and effective cleanse, especially if the patient was being prepped for surgery. This might even have been more comfortable for the patient because the solution was going beyond the sigmoid and ascending colon. Nurse's wisdom from the 1930s in a vintage manual that I remember seeing.