Milk and Molasses enema

For complex reasons, I was part of someone in the hospital getting an enema for blockage. The bottle of mix they used was milk and molasses. I have done coffee enemas a large part of my life, as well as other things, but I had never heard of that mix, and questioned why they chose those fluids.  

I was told the milk adds fat for lubricant, and the sugar in the molasses works like salt does, to draw moisture out of the intestinal walls so it breaks stuck things loose, but is much less harsh than salts.

The things I never expected to learn in a hospital!!

that is so interesting! you figure the molasses also has a bit more nutrition than just using glucose or dextrose or whatever.

I dug up a research article in the American Journal of Nursing that presented no negatives.  I never heard of it before.

Part of what I found fascinating was that was just the bottles of stuff they have on hand for using. Not a weird thing he mixed up or anything, just what they have at the hospital.

Any idea what the ratio was? I have a family member who's needed enemas in the past and bought commercial ones which generated huge amounts of packaging waste. This sounds like a great alternative!

Two weekends ago i was fortunate enough to be up in the hills with cousins of my wife , on their farm ---as these occasions  are few and never long enough--this was a long weekend ---we took to the cider early and as the night came down we walked across the fields  pathway to the village pub---pints of porter and stout followed---singing broke out---someone on a banjo---and it really got underway---with a song that stood out ---"Cod liver oil an the Orange juice"  penned years ago by Hamish Imlach---so reading the above title brought back all my happy memories of the night ---as it sounds exactly like the title of a song that Hamish would have come up with---thanks for this

No, I don’t know the ratio, I’m sorry. I just asked what he was using and that was what I was told. It’s a common thing they had there, might be online someplace?

1:1 ratio at 103F.  Seems to be the general suggestion.  The amounts vary.   Like I commented, I have never run into this before, so I am just repeating the ratios I have bumped into on the net.


2/15 Edit: 1/2 cup of each per what looks like an editorial in the AJN. Same source as below.

Here is the abstract from the AJN

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FEATURE ARTICLES
CE: Original Research: Are Milk and Molasses Enemas Safe for Hospitalized Adults? A Retrospective Electronic Health Record Review
Wangui-Verry, Jackline MSN, RN-BC; Farrington, Michele BSN, RN-BC; Matthews, Grace MSN, RN-BC; Tucker, Sharon J. PhD, RN, APRN-CNS, F-NAP, FAAN
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AJN, American Journal of Nursing 119(9):p 24-28, September 2019. | DOI: 10.1097/01.NAJ.0000580148.43193.76
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Abstract
In Brief

Background: Constipation in hospitalized patients is common. As a treatment of last resort for unresolved constipation, a milk and molasses enema is often used by nursing staff. But there has been little research investigating the safety and efficacy of this approach.

Purpose: The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the safety of milk and molasses enemas for hospitalized adults with constipation that remained unresolved after standard treatment options were exhausted.

Methods: Data were extracted from the electronic health records (EHRs) of 615 adult patients who had received a milk and molasses enema between July 2009 and July 2013 at a large midwestern academic medical center. Data analysis occurred for a random subset of this group.

Participant characteristic variables included age, sex, admitting diagnosis, diet orders, medications, laxatives and enemas administered before the milk and molasses enema, and laboratory values. Serious complication variables included bacteremia, bowel perforation, electrolyte abnormalities, allergic reaction, abdominal compartment syndrome, cardiac arrhythmia, dehydration, and death.

Findings: The final sample of 196 adults had a mean age of 56 years; 61.2% were female and 38.8% were male. Of 105 admitting diagnoses, the most frequent (9.7%) was abdominal pain, unspecified site. Of the 14 discharge dispositions, the most frequent was home or self-care (50.5%). A laxative order was present for 97.4% of patients and a stool softener order was present for 86.2%. Sodium and potassium levels remained within normal limits during hospitalization. For the subset of patients who had these values measured within 48 hours before and after milk and molasses enema administration, no significant changes were found. No cases of nontraumatic abdominal compartment syndrome or other serious adverse enema-related events were documented in the EHR.

Conclusions: No safety concerns were identified from this retrospective EHR review of hospitalized adults who received a milk and molasses enema for constipation relief. The findings indicate that this treatment is safe, although further study examining its efficacy in this population is needed.