Digital technologies for bowel management: A scoping review

Abstract

The use of digital technologies in managing bowel conditions has been a topic of interest among healthcare practitioners. The objectives of this paper were to provide information about the types of digital technologies that have been used for bowel management and the context of the studies; identify the gaps and challenges in digital technologies for bowel management and propose new methods and techniques for the application of digital technologies in bowel management. A scoping review was conducted following the principles of Preferred Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). A search was conducted on six academic databases. 1891 papers were retrieved from the initial search; however, 6 papers were included based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The findings suggest that published work focused mainly on a research context and with a narrow focus targeting sub-categories of bowel conditions and not implemented in the context of everyday use. The findings also illustrate the variety of early-stage developments focused on increasing support for severe bowel dysfunction, for example, through biofeedback to aid muscle control training, or the placement of artificial anal sphincters to increase rectal perception. However, technology to support bowel management for broader populations with less severe or variable symptoms appears limited. Future work would be to conduct empirical research in the application of advanced technologies such as on-organ sensors in managing bowel conditions.