A nutrient enema, also known as feeding per rectum, rectal alimentation, or rectal feeding, is an

enema An enema, also known as a clyster, is the rectal administration of a fluid by injection into the Large intestine, lower bowel via the anus.Cullingworth, ''A Manual of Nursing, Medical and Surgical'':155 The word ''enema'' can also refer to the ...

administered to provide

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemistry, biochemical and physiology, physiological process by which an organism uses food and water to support its life. The intake of these substances provides organisms with nutrients (divided into Macronutrient, macro- ...

in cases where normal

eating Eating (also known as consuming) is the ingestion of food. In biology, this is typically done to provide a heterotrophic organism with energy and nutrients and to allow for growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive – ...

is not possible. In modern medicine, nutrient enemas have been superseded by tube feeding and

parenteral nutrition Parenteral nutrition (PN), or intravenous feeding, is the feeding of nutritional products to a person intravenously, bypassing the usual process of eating and digestion. The products are made by pharmaceutical compounding entities or standard ph ...

(intravenous feeding).

History

This treatment is ancient, dating back at least to the second century AD when documented by

Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus (; September 129 – AD), often Anglicization, anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Ancient Rome, Roman and Greeks, Greek physician, surgeon, and Philosophy, philosopher. Considered to be one o ...

, and commonly used in the Middle Ages, remaining a common technique in 19th century.

Doctor Willard Bliss Doctor Willard Bliss (August 18, 1825 – February 21, 1889; his given name was ''Doctor'') was an American physician and pseudo-expert in ballistic trauma, who treated President of the United States James A. Garfield after his Assassination of ...

prescribed this treatment to United States President James A. Garfield after his attempted assassination by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881. Garfield died after a failed recovery on September 19, 1881. In 1941, the U.S.' military manual for hospital diets prescribed use of nutrient enemas. In 2014, when the United States Senate Intelligence Committee published the U.S. Senate report on CIA torture, an unclassified summary of its 6,000 page classified report on the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

's use of

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

, its previously unknown practices of brutally forced nutrient enemas on detainees who attempted hunger strikes and of "rectal rehydration" for punishment and torture became apparent. The ''South Park'' episode "

Red Hot Catholic Love "Red Hot Catholic Love" is the 87th episode of the Comedy Central series ''South Park''. It originally aired on July 3, 2002. It was selected No. 2 on the "10 South Parks that Changed the World" list, and was also part of "South Park's Dirty Doz ...

" features a fictionalized, inaccurate depiction of rectal feeding followed by fecal vomiting.

Physiology

A variety of different mixes have been used for nutrient enemas throughout history. A paper published in ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'' in 1926 stated that because the

rectum The rectum (: rectums or recta) is the final straight portion of the large intestine in humans and some other mammals, and the gut in others. Before expulsion through the anus or cloaca, the rectum stores the feces temporarily. The adult ...

and lower

digestive tract The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the Digestion, digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The tract is the largest of the body's systems, after the cardiovascula ...

lack

digestive enzyme Digestive enzymes take part in the chemical process of digestion, which follows the mechanical process of digestion. Food consists of macromolecules of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats that need to be broken down chemically by digestive enzymes ...

s, it is likely that only the end-products of normal digestion such as

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although over 500 amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the 22 α-amino acids incorporated into proteins. Only these 22 a ...

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

and

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

, will be absorbed.

References

{{Dosage forms, state=expanded Nutrition Enemas Intensive care medicine Enteral feeding Rectum Torture in the United States

History

Physiology

See also

References