Rectal Stump Irrigation for Mucus Removal

Hello,

Does anyone have experience with or know about irrigating the rectal stump to clear mucus from the rectal stump using a Foley catheter? Any information regarding this would be lifesaving for me and greatly appreciated.

I wouldn't recommend using a Foley catheter. An enema is what you would use.

Hello markmd1112.

I’m with Beth on this one for several reasons:
a) The Foley catheters are designed for draining urine. Anal mucus is completely different and would almost certainly not flow through such a small tube and would likely block it. 
b) The anal mucus can be sticky and difficult to dislodge from the walls of the walls of the anus.
The Foley catheters are designed to drain free-flowing urine. I cannot envisage them working effectively for anal mucus.
c) Inserting devices into the anal cavity has similar risks to inserting things into the stoma. With ‘thin’ catheters, there might be a higher risk of perforating the colon than if a different (more appropriate) device is used.
d) Enema’s are much less likely to cause the same problems as Foley catheters and are made for the job at hand. However, they do not work for everyone, so if this does not work as a solution for you, then more ‘risky’ devices might be contemplated.

I will share with you my own (DIY) efforts to overcome the problems of anal mucus on the understanding that I would NOT recommend these methods to anyone else without medical supervision as the risks are too high.(and the anal catheters are not available except through approved medical channels). 
First and foremost potential problems need to be identified and catered for before any procedures are started.
1) The problems as I saw them were that the anal ‘sack’ would be of limited length, which would need to be identified (measured) so that any catheter would not perforate the end of it.
2) The catheter or catheters should be shaped so that they don’t perforate the sides of the ‘sack’ and don’t penetrate too far in. 
3) The pressure of the irrigating water should be sufficient to dislodge the mucus without perforating the walls of the colon.
4) I used two different catheters. The first was an adapted catheter with a hole drilled in the end so it shot the water straight out of the end and cleaned the back of the anal ‘sack’. The second had side outlets, which cleaned the sides by twisting it round as it was extracted from the anus.
5) The procedure was ‘executed’ (standing or squatting) in the bath so that the mess and mucus could be seen and identified as it exited the anus.
What I describe is very similar to the type of colonic irrigation that can be obtained in some commercial enterprises.
My system was hooked up to the shower hose in the bath and the water flow was regulated by a regular on/off tap.
I used the system daily for about a month and it was very satisfying to see the output/results floating down the bath towards the plughole.
After about a month the mucus became clear, non-smelly and free-flowing,which I felt would be manageable via incontinent pads. Hence I stopped the anal irrigation and have been managing with inco pads ever since (quite a few years now!).
For those who might be interested, I still use an adaptation of this method and these catheters to daily irrigate my stoma.
The catheters in question are Coloplast Peristeen rectal catheters 29123 , which have a dual-water entry that allows the integrated ‘balloon’ to be inflated. I dismantle the catheter so that only the tip is attached to my irrigation system and just one water outlet
is utilised.
 
If I was not into DIY, then I would probably approach one (or several) of those organisations (health farms) that offer colonic irrigation to see if they would irrigate my colon for me. 

I hope this information proves to be useful .

Best wishes

Bill