Safe Care at Home

Introduction to Giving an Enema

An enema involves delivering a fluid solution into a person’s rectum and lower bowel or colon. to:

• Cleanse the bowel (intestine) before a person has certain diagnostic tests
• Cleanse the bowel before bowel surgery
• Relieve constipation
• Give medicine into the bowel. For example, steroid enemas for bowel inflammation in persons with ulcerative colitis. Antibiotic enemas treat bacterial infections of the bowel

Tests and Surgery. Cleansing of the bowel offers a clear view of the lining of the intestine during a diagnostic test. Cleansing also prevents the leakage of stool during surgery.

Constipation is difficulty having a bowel movement for at least 3 days. A person strains and often is not able to have a bowel movement at will. A stool is very hard when a person has constipation. An enema allows a person to pass a hardened stool more easily.

Impaction. If an enema does not work, the person you provide care for may have an impaction, a collection of hardened stool wedged in the rectum. The stool is too large to pass through the rectum. Impaction often occurs from unrelieved constipation. If an enema does not have the expected results, call the person’s doctor for further instructions.

This lesson will review how to give an enema safely and what to look for to be sure the enema works the right way.