Sara Strandberg works as a specialist nurse and urotherapist in Malmö, Sweden. In her daily work, she comes across people suffering from both bowel leakage and constipation. She has a long experience with mini (low-volume)-irrigation systems, as she often recommends and prescribes them to her patients.
We asked Sara Strandberg to tell us about mini-irrigation systems in general and to share her first impression of the new Navina Mini. Here’s what she told us:
Why would you need a mini-irrigation system?
- If you have ever experienced bowel dysfunction, you know it can be very troublesome – and embarrassing. Some people are born with it as a result of a neurogenic condition, others have experienced an accident followed by surgery that causes leakage or suffer from LARS (Lower Anterior Resection Syndrome) after cancer. Bowel problems can affect everyone at any time in life, yet women after menopause seem to be particularly prone, not seldom due to weakened pelvic floor following childbirth.
Typical symptoms are:
• Bowel leakage (soiling) or fear of leakage
• Feeling of incomplete emptying and urge to defecate more often
• Need of rectal or vaginal digitation
• Excessive straining during defecation
• Discomfort caused by everyday use of mini enemas with laxatives.
- In all of these cases, the use of a mini-irrigation system, also known as low-volume transanal irrigation (TAI), would be a viable solution that could solve the problem.
What is a mini-irrigation system?
- A mini-irrigation system typically consists of a small container that you fill with 100-300 ml of water, depending on the system. Then you attach a cone or a tip, add a lubricant or water to make it slippery, after which you insert it through the anus and squeeze the water in to empty the rectum.
What are the benefits with a mini-irrigation system?
-Well, a mini system has to be easy to use as well as discreet. It doesn’t need much instruction; the product is quite self-explanatory and easy to introduce to a patient. Most people adopt the solution without hesitation, which is not always the case with high-volume transanal irrigation (TAI) systems. A mini-irrigation system is often a much-preferred solution to mini enemas with laxatives, which may provoke a burning sensation after use.
“Navina Mini is neat and tiny, it’s easy to use and easy to rinse”
In what way can Navina Mini be a better solution than existing alternatives?
-Navina Mini is neat and tiny - and fits nicely into your hand. You perceive it as small, yet it contains more water than you’d expect.
-The flip lid is easy to open and close, it is easy to fill with water straight from the tap and simple to assemble with the hydrophilic cone. After use it is easy to rinse the container as well as the tube under the tap. What’s even better, both the container and the tube can be used again up to 60 times – which is ideal from an environmental point of view.
-The light grey color makes it look clean and attractive – you can tell it’s a medical product and not just a toy. And when not in use, you can keep your Navina Mini in a toiletry bag, so it’s easy and discreet to bring along.
To sum up, what are the key benefits with Navina Mini?
• It is shaped to fit the hand
• It has a squeeze-friendly water container that holds 185 ml
• The cone looks comfortable
• It is hygienic
-It may be small, but it’s likely to have a big impact on the users’ quality of life, Sara Strandberg concludes.