rectal foley???

[MIA-RN1, RN]

I am a nursing student (one year done, one year to go) and I started a job as a tech in the ER last week. I am being trained by other techs for most things, and doing foleys, bloods, and enemas under the supervision of a nurse.

Last night while showing me around the tech who is responsible for training me told me that foley caths are also used rectally. He explained that when a person is comatose they will put in a urinary foley and a foley in the rectum, feed the person a full-liquid diet via tube feedings, and then their elimination is all water and collected via a rectal foley. He said they do this in the ICU.

Is this for real?? I don't want to ask the nurses because I am still getting the layout of the land so to speak and don't want to cause any waves by sounding disbelieving of this tech, who seems to be pretty well-respected.

[Katnip, RN]

We've used standard rectal tubes attached to Foley bags for similar reasons. We don't use the Foley tubing with the balloons though.

[estrogen]

yep, rectal tubes (like the ones with enemas) attached to a foley bag are fairly common.

[MIA-RN1, RN]

We've used standard rectal tubes attached to Foley bags for similar reasons. We don't use the Foley tubing with the balloons though.

Cool. I am glad that he wasn't telling me stuff that wasn't true. I was having trouble believing him and also not sure if he was pulling my leg.

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

Curious, though, about how a rectal tube is best secured to the pt.?

[Geeg]

When using a foley as a rectal tube, one must watch for necrosis from the balloon. There is a new product called "Zassi" it is better because it is a flexible tube that you can even give enemas through, and has less incidence of necrosis, and is supposed to be more comfortable for the pt. Also, don't use these tubes without consulting the doc, especially if there has been some kind of GI surgery.

[redwinggirlie]

We use Zassi tubes as well. They have a larger, flexible bore to collect liquid stools and are kept in place by inflating a doughnut shaped (soft and small) balloon inside the rectal vault. The stool is collected in a bag similar to the urinary bags. We do see a small bit of leakage at times, but they really do work well, especially used in those with wounds close-by.

[grinnurse, RN]

I am a nursing student (one year done, one year to go) and I started a job as a tech in the ER last week. I am being trained by other techs for most things, and doing foleys, bloods, and enemas under the supervision of a nurse.

Last night while showing me around the tech who is responsible for training me told me that foley caths are also used rectally. He explained that when a person is comatose they will put in a urinary foley and a foley in the rectum, feed the person a full-liquid diet via tube feedings, and then their elimination is all water and collected via a rectal foley. He said they do this in the ICU.

Is this for real?? I don't want to ask the nurses because I am still getting the layout of the land so to speak and don't want to cause any waves by sounding disbelieving of this tech, who seems to be pretty well-respected.

Coopergrrl-

I had a pt about 3 wks ago that had one of these foleys. I was shocked. Never in my wildest thoughts did I think there was such a thing. I found it extremely difficult to keep it on. We used the "glue" for lack of better terminology to hold it in place as best we could. Not only do they use it in ICU, they also use it on Med/Surg esp for the older psych pts. I think so far, that has been the nastiest thing that I have experienced. It stunk to high heavens and that was with draining it frequently. I usually don't gag that much w/poop, but that smell made me literally sick to my stomach!! Definately never taught that in NS.............. :rotfl:

[USA987, MSN, RN, NP]

Make sure you know your hospital's policies re: this. Ours prohibit it, as someone else said it can cause necrosis (no balloon either). We had a comatose patient with c-diff...it sure would have been nice to use!!!

[ICU_floater]

we use this routinely, or a rectal bag (which is like a colostomy hooked to a foley around the orifice). There is a very high risk of tissue necrosis if you inflate the baloon. My facility prohibits this. The rectal tube is held in place simply by tape to the buttocks and thigh. Usually used in critical care environments. The diameter is HUGE. See if your facilty stocks rectal bags which are safer, but require intact skin and spray on adhesive to ensure no leaks....just hook to a foley bag.

[JBudd, MSN]

Some 20 years ago, the tubing was blue, so a rectal foley was called a "blue goose" :rotfl:

[LilRedRN1973]

Our rectal tube protocol is to deflate the balloon q 4hr and move the tubing around, then reinflate the balloon. I work in the ICU and while there have been situations where the rectal tubes were nice, I have also seen "lazy" nurses slap these on a patient when their stool was really too thick for them to be useful. The only thing I can think of that is worse is using a rectal bag when the situation really doesn't call for it. Not only do you get a big nasty mess around the bag, but then you have that wafer that's stuck on the patient's rear end until the end of time (those suckers don't like to come off without taking skin).

Melanie = )