Objectives This study was aimed to review a standardized method of retention enema by extracting elements associated with methods of retention enema from papers involved.
Methods 1) Data sources : Retrieval was made, using ‘Enema' or 'Retention Enema’ as search words in MEDLINE, The Cochrane Library, KISS, RISS, and NDSL DB.
2) Study selection : Two authors excluded irrelevant papers and chose qualified abstracts in the rest of the papers. The chosen studies were reviewed fully by the authors so that they could screen the significant papers based on the exclusion criteria.
3) Data extraction : Data on the total number of subjects, the target disease, the type, quality, length, diameter of catheter, the insertion length of catheter, the sample, the sample volume, the process of retention enema and the number of performing retention enema were extracted from the selected studies.
Results & Conclusions The retention enema can be applied to gastrointestinal diseases, genitourinary diseases, metabolic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, headaches and neurological disorders. The standardized treatment method is as following: 1) inserting a rental tube of 18-28 Fr that measures 20 to 30 cm into the patient's anus, 2) injecting herbal medicines which have purgative action or benefit on stomach and intestinal tract at the rate of 4 ml/min, and 3) holding them for 10 to 15 minutes.