Digital rectal examination. What is it?

DIgital rectal examination, now reading these three words you must be thinking it has some thing to do with digitalization or technology. Well no this is a medical blog so it has some thing to do with medical examination, To tell you the truth it a procedure in which the index finger is inserted into the rectum for examination (I m not kidding). Though it sound ecky and weird, but this is an important examination when you want to rule out heamorhoids or when you want to check the prostate in males.

So this brings me to the point where i tell you what are the indications of digital rectal examination. well they are as follows:

1. hemorrhoids
2. inflammation
3. swelling
4. blood in colon
5. fistulas
6. fissures
7. Carcinomas

I know the procedure sounds weird and believe me i felt no better when i performed this procedure for the first time as a student, but in some cases this procedure is so essential that it leaves you no choice, so here are the steps that should be followed

Step1:

Greet the patient

Step 2:

expose the patient from the umbilicus downward

Step 3:

Ask the patient to lie on his/her left side

Step 4:

Wear gloves

Step 5:

Palpate the area near the rectal opening and check for any swelling, inflammation, boiling, tenderness etc

Step 6:

Ok so no comes the uncomfortable part!!

Lubricate your finger with a kubricator provided.

Insert the finger into the restum with the finger facing the posterior wall of the restum and palpate there for any heamorhoids, inflammation, pain, swelling, fissures, fistulas, carcinomas.

Step 7:

Now turn the finger and palpate the lateral wall to check for the same pathologies mentioned in step 6

Step 8:

Turn the finger to face it to the anterior wall of the rectum and palpate the prostate in males, check its size, shape, appearance, smooth or rough or nodular etc

Step 9:

pull out the finger gently, take of the gloves, cover and the patient and say thankyou.