Enemata administering device

Claim 1

A self-retaining rectal catheter for barium enemata comprising; a flexible plastic stem having an exit port, a normally deflated inflatable annular retention balloon mounted behind said exit port of said stem, a rentention ring mounted for axial movement on said stem and positioned behind said balloon, an air reservoir, a first conduit in communication with said retention balloon, a second conduit in communication with said air reservoir, a detachable coupling between said first and said second conduits, said air reservoir and said retention balloon comprising a closed system when said coupling is made, said closed system having a fixed and limited quantity of air therein, said air reservoir being a readily compressible pourous resilient sponge substantially filling said reservoir and having a normal uncompressed state and a compressed state, said reservoir tending to restore itself to said normal uncompressed state when compresive pressure is removed from said reservoir, said air reservoir when compressed forcing air into said retention balloon, the quantity of air forced into said retention balloon by the compression of said air reservoir being sufficient to inflate said balloon, said air reservoir in said uncompressed state providing sufficient volume to accept a quantity of air from said balloon when said balloon is in its inflated state to cause said balloon to collapse to its normal deflated state, the only source of air for inflating said balloon when said coupling is made being the fixed quantity of air in said reservoir when said reservoir is in its normal uncompressed state, said coupling when detached freeing said first conduit for connection to a source of air other than said reservoir, and a manually actuable clamp on one of said conduits, said clamp having a closed state and an open state, said clamp when in said closed state shutting off communication between said balloon and said reservoir to permit maintaining said balloon in an inflated state after said balloon has been inflated by compression of said reservoir, said manually actuable clamp being the sole means of closing off communication between said reservoir and said balloon, said balloon having a single exit/entrance port and said reservoir having a single entrance/exit port, both of said entrance/exit ports being unobstructed during all states of inflation and deflation of said balloon and during all states of expansion and compression of said reservoir.