Eating healthily is especially important for people dealing with bowel dysfunction. In addition to helping you maintain a healthy weight and making a positive impact to your overall health and well being, a well-balanced diet can improve the consistency of your stool to help ease evacuation and keep your bowel movements more regular. Stool consistency has a positive impact on the ability of your Peristeen® Plus irrigations to clear out as much stool as possible with each irrigation.
The following dietary information is provided for general guidance. Always seek guidance from your healthcare provider before making any dietary changes.
Basic principles
Aim for a well balanced diet
A balanced diet is one that includes portions from all the main food groups, so your body gets the nutrients it needs to function correctly. Nutrition is complex, and an understanding of what represents a ‘healthy’ diet is constantly evolving. That said, these core principles can help you establish a good foundation and get proper nutrition from your diet:
FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
Try to eat at least five portions a day. Consider apples, apricots, avocados, pears and leafy greens.
BREADS AND CEREALS
Focus on high-fiber breads, flax seed and cereals comprised of whole grains.
MILK AND DAIRY PRODUCTS
Opt for high-calcium products that are low-fat and have little or no added salt or sugar such as cottage cheese and low-fat milk. Also look for yogurts or drinks with probiotics to promote gut health.
MEAT, POULTRY, EGGS AND FISH
Choose options with less saturated fat, like poultry and other white meat, and eat fish at least twice a week. Limit red meat options.
FATS AND OILS
Use vegetable oils for cooking (olive, rapeseed, sunflower) instead of butter.
FIBER AND FLUIDS
A fiber-rich diet and good hydration can help your bowel movements.
SUGAR
Limit consumption of sweets and avoid added sugar in prepared foods, desserts and drinks. Look for sugar-free beverage alternatives like sparkling waters or unsweetened teas or coffees.
Bernardi M, Fedullo AL, Bernardi E, Munzi D, Peluso I, Myers J, Lista FR, Sciarra
T. Diet in neurogenic bowel management: A viewpoint on spinal cord injury. World J
Gastroenterol 2020; 26(20): 2479-2497
Information from Coloplast® Care is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice and should not be interpreted to contain treatment recommendations. You should rely on the healthcare professional who knows your individual history for personal medical advice and diagnosis. Prior to use refer to product labeling for complete product instructions for use, contraindications, warnings and precautions.
Indication: The Peristeen® Plus Transanal Irrigation System is intended to instill water into the colon through a rectal catheter, which incorporates an inflatable balloon, inserted into the rectum to promote evacuation of the contents of the lower colon. The Peristeen Plus Transanal Irrigation System is indicated for use by children (2 years - <12 years old), adolescent (12 years - < 18 years old), transitional adolescent (18 - <21 years old) and adult patients with neurogenic bowel dysfunction who suffer from fecal incontinence, chronic constipation, and/or time-consuming bowel management procedures.
Contraindications: Peristeen Plus Transanal Irrigation must not be used in the following situations: known anal or colorectal stenosis, colorectal cancer (active/recurrent), radiotherapy to the pelvis, and recent abdomino-perineal surgery, active inflammatory bowel disease, acute diverticulitis, severe diverticulitis, previous diverticulitis and diverticular abscess, chronic symptomatic diverticular disease, within 3 months of abdominal, anal or colorectal surgery, within 4 weeks of endoscopic polypectomy, recent colonic biopsy, recent endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and recent endoscopic sub-mucosal dissection (ESD), severe autonomic dysreflexia, ischemic colitis, during Spinal Cord Shock Phase, complex diverticular disease, in patients who are pregnant and have not used the system before*. Since the list is not exhaustive, the healthcare professional should always consider individual patient factors as well. *If the patient is pregnant and has never used transanal irrigation before, they should not start the irrigation procedure during pregnancy.
Warnings: Peristeen Plus Transanal irrigation procedure should always be carried out with caution. Bowel perforation is an extremely rare, but serious and potentially lethal, complication to transanal irrigation and will require immediate admission to a hospital, often requiring surgery. See the device manual for complete user instructions, contraindications, warnings, precautions, and potential complications/adverse events. For further information, call Coloplast Corp at 1-855-605-7594 or consult the company website at www.coloplast.us. Caution: Federal law restricts this device to sale by or on the order of a physician.
