Children are often constipated. Most often, parents try to rid the child of constipation with the help of candles and children's enemas. Young mothers often do not know how to properly put their child, what should be the temperature of the water and what can be added to the wash water.
Doctors do not recommend frequent use of suppositories or baby enemas for constipation, as these procedures draw the child's unnecessary attention to bowel activity, making it difficult to resolve the problem. An enema is an emergency measure to remove stagnant feces. It does not eliminate the very cause of constipation. Treatment is needed, without it, constipation will repeat again and again.
An enema is the introduction of various liquids into the rectum for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes.
Indications and contraindications for cleansing enema
It is used to liquefy and evacuate the contents of the lowersection of the large intestine. She is assigned:
- For constipation.
- To remove toxic substances in case of poisoning or intestinal infections.
- Before operations.
- Before the X-ray examination of the intestine.
- Before using medicinal enemas.
Contraindications:
- Acute inflammation of the colon mucosa.
- Acute appendicitis.
- Gastrointestinal bleeding.
What temperature should the water be?
For a cleansing enema, water at room temperature (22-25 ° C) is needed. If you introduce warm water into the intestines, it will be absorbed by the intestinal mucosa and will not fulfill its task. If you need to stimulate bowel contractions, use cool water (12-20 ° C), to relax the muscles take water at a temperature of 37-42 ° C.
What can be added to water?
To enhance the cleansing effect of the procedure, you can add a teaspoon of vegetable oil, glycerin or half a teaspoon of soda to a glass of water. Dr. Evgeny Komarovsky recommends doing an enema with baby soap. A bar of soap is dissolved in water. Soap enemas are contraindicated in infants, as they irritate the intestinal walls too much.
What to do?
An enema in a children's hospital is done with Esmarch's mug. This is a rubber tank, similar in appearance to a heating pad, with a volume of 1–2 liters, with a hole to which a rubber tube with a rubber tip is attached. At the end of the tube is a tap that regulates the water pressure. mugEsmarch is sold in any pharmacy.
At home, pears are used to set up a children's enema. They are rubber and silicone. Children's pears for enema are sold at any pharmacy. They are different: No. 2 (50 ml), No. 3 (75 ml), No. 4 (100 ml), No. 5 (150 ml), No. 6 (250 ml).
Baby enema for newborns is given with the smallest rubber bulbs with soft rubber tips.
The amount of water required for different enemas is shown in the table.
| Age | Cleansing | Siphon |
| 1-2 months | 30-40 | - |
| 2-4 months | 60 | 800-1000 |
| 6-9 months | 100-120 | 1000-1500 |
| 9-12 months | 200 | 1500-2000 |
| 2-5 years | 300 | 2000-5000 |
| 6-10 years | 400-500 | 5000-8000 |
How to put the baby to bed?
The oilcloth is laid on the couch, a towel is placed on top.
The child should be laid on his left side, bend his knees and pull them to his stomach. In this position, the introduction of the enema tip will be most painless.
The baby is laid on its back, legs are lifted and slightly parted to the sides. The edge of the oilcloth should hang down into the basin.
How to make a children's enema using Esmarch's mug?
Esmarch's mug is filled with water, then the tap is opened and filledwater tube, releasing air. After the water begins to pour out of the tap, it must be closed, the mug should be hung above the level of the bed.
The child's buttocks are spread with fingers, a tip smeared with petroleum jelly is carefully inserted into the rectum with rotational movements. Initially, the tip is inserted towards the navel, then parallel to the coccyx. They open the tap, raise the enema to a height of up to 60 cm. The lower the mug hangs, the slower the liquid will flow and the less anxiety the procedure will bring to the child.
If no fluid is coming in, pull the tip back a little. The rectal muscles relax and contract in waves, so you can wait for the bowel to relax. If the liquid still does not flow, you need to increase the pressure by lifting the mug higher.
If the child complains of pain, reduce the water pressure by lowering the mug.
After completing the liquid, connect the baby's buttocks, ask him not to defecate. To soften the feces, water should be in the intestine for 5-10 minutes. Then the child is sent to the toilet or given a potty.
Used baby enema tip should be washed with warm soapy water and boiled.
How to make an enema with a pear?
The pear is completely filled with water to remove air from it. The end of the pear is smeared with petroleum jelly, soap or cream. Carefully, the pear is inserted into the anus to a depth of 3-5 cm. In order for the liquid to enter the intestines, you need to slowly squeeze the pear. The slower the water flows, the more painless the procedure and the longer the waterlinger in the intestines.
If the water does not come out of the pear, it is pushed back a little and the intestines are waiting for relaxation.
After finishing the introduction of the liquid, lightly squeeze the buttocks so that the liquid lingers in the intestines for at least a few minutes to sufficiently soften the feces.
If after 15 minutes the water has not come out or has come out without feces, the procedure is repeated.
Enema "Microlax"
Microlax microclysters are very convenient to use. They are produced in two types - for adults and children over 3 years old, for children from 0 years old. They differ only in the length of the tip.
The prefix "micro" in the name indicates that you need to inject a very small amount of liquid - only 5 ml. Convenience lies in the fact that no preparation is needed to administer the drug. No need to boil the bulb or tip, no rubber tube, no need to adjust the pressure on the bulb or the height of the enema. The tube of the drug takes up little space, you can take it with you on vacation. The drug is small, so it is administered quickly, without causing inconvenience.
To use a microclyster, you need to break off the tip, squeeze out a drop of the drug and spread it over the entire tip as a lubricant, and then insert the tip into the anus. Tip inserted:
- full length children over 3 years old;
- half the length (there is a corresponding mark on it) for children under 3 years old;
- if a special children's enema "Microlax" 0 years old is used, then the tipfull length must be entered.
Adults and children of all ages are given the entire drug (5 ml). The drug will begin to work in 5-15 minutes.
Microlax micro enema weakens due to active substances: sodium citrate, sodium lauryl sulfoacetate and sorbitol. They break up the feces into separate small particles, contributing to their softening, and also increase the amount of water in the intestines. As a result, the feces become liquid and are easily evacuated to the outside.
Siphon enemas
They are prescribed for bowel lavage when:
- poisoning by metabolic products (for example, due to kidney failure);
- intestinal obstruction – mechanical and dynamic;
- diagnosis of intestinal obstruction (absence of feces or air bubbles in the wash water indicates obstruction);
- ineffectiveness of conventional cleansing enemas.
For setting an enema take a large funnel and a wide rubber tube. Bowel lavage in this way is similar to gastric lavage. Boiled water, a weak solution of potassium permanganate, a 2% solution of sodium bicarbonate (soda) are used. The funnel is held just above the child's pelvis, filled with liquid, lifted up - the liquid enters the intestines. When all the liquid from the funnel enters the intestine, it is lowered lower, the liquid begins to pour back into the funnel along with the feces. The contents are poured out, the procedure is repeated until the water coming from the intestines is clear.
Medicinals
Thisanother type of therapeutic enemas, their purpose is the introduction of a medicinal substance. Their volume is usually no more than 50 ml.
30-40 minutes before the procedure, be sure to empty the intestines with a cleansing enema. Medicinal enema put at night, the medicine should be absorbed into the intestinal wall.
They come in three types:
- Clysters of local action, or microclysters. They are placed to provide a local effect on the walls of the rectum in its diseases. For example, a solution of prednisolone is administered for chronic inflammation of the large intestine, chamomile infusion - for inflammation of the rectum.
- Enemas of general action. Many medicinal substances, when administered orally or intravenously, are almost completely destroyed in the liver. With rectal administration of a medicinal substance, it immediately enters the general circulation, bypassing the liver. Therefore, some drugs that are broken down by the liver are administered rectally.
- Drip enemas. Applied with a large loss of blood or fluid; as artificial nutrition through the rectum. For example, after vomiting, a child develops severe dehydration, the blood becomes viscous, and intravenous administration of drugs is difficult. In this case, a drip enema of saline is prescribed. Its feature is the duration of the procedure - it is left for the whole night.
Other types of enemas
1. Oil. For spastic constipation, the doctor may prescribe an oil enema. Use any vegetable oil. It is heated to a temperature of 37 °C. oil enemasrelax the intestinal walls, which leads to increased peristalsis. After the introduction, the child should lie down for 30 minutes. They put oil enemas in the evening, since the laxative effect will come only after 12 hours.
2. Hypertonic enemas. They are used for:
- atonic constipation to stimulate bowel movements;
- with edema of the meninges, since the hypertonic solution "draws" water from the tissues of the body into the intestinal lumen.
3. S alt enemas are given with 10% sodium chloride or 30% magnesium sulfate.
4. Starch enemas. It is prescribed for colitis as an enveloping agent or as the basis for a medicinal enema, if you need to introduce a substance that strongly irritates the intestinal mucosa. Preparation: 5 g of starch is diluted in 100 ml of water, then 100 g of boiling water are added little by little. A starch solution is introduced, heated to a temperature of 40 ° C.
5. Nutrient enemas. It is prescribed as an additional way to supply nutrients to the body - a solution of glucose, amino acids.
Without a doctor's prescription, you can only apply a cleansing enema with water (room temperature). All other options for enemas should be prescribed by a specialist after diagnosis. An incorrectly prescribed enema can harm the he alth of both an adult and a child.
