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Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Chinese Herbal Retention Enema for the Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis
Published on: May 16, 2025
[A case of idiopathic colitis developed after barium enema]
Jong Hoo Lee1, Hyo Jong Kim, Han Soo Kim
1Department of Internal Medicine, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Abstract:
It has been reported that colitis may be associated with intrarectally administered drugs or chemicals. Colonotoxicity may results from conventional medical therapy, herbal or other illicit drugs, contrast materials, and detergents. Clues that a colitis may be due to an intrarectally administered agent include perianal excoriation, segmental distal colitis due to a concentration gradient from enema administration, and recent diagnostic or therapeutic administration of high risk solutions such as hypertonic contrast agents or detergent enemas. Barium is a highly viscous contrast agent that is insoluble in water. Barium enemas are usually very safe. Also, no case report of barium-induced chemical colitis has been reported yet. We report a case of chemical colitis with colonic stricture occurring after the barium enema for diagnostic purpose.
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