1909/04/17 by J. B. MURPHY
Health Professions · #Therapeutic Uses of Natural Elements
paper · pdf · doi:10.1001/jama.1909.25420420028003a
The employment of proctoclysis in the treatment of the various forms of peritonitis, postoperative or otherwise, and general toxemic conditions, is a very simple procedure, but unless given with appreciation of the principles involved the solution will not be retained by the patient. The continuous method is by far the most scientific and successful. The retention of fluid in the colon depends entirely on its method of administration. Moderate distention is the normal condition of the large intestine. Its mucosa absorbs water with great rapidity. If it is hyperdistended it causes spasm and expulsion of material. The results obtained by this treatment have been so surprising that it was at first feared they were accidental, but they are now so uniform as to amount almost to a mathematical certainty when the details are carried out, which are based on our knowledge of the physiologic and pathologic conditions of septic absorption,