What is a digital rectal exam?
A digital rectal exam is used by your doctor to examine your rectum and nearby organs. During the exam, your doctor will gently insert a gloved finger with lubricant into the rectum and may press on your belly or pelvic area with the other hand.
Digital rectal exams are commonly performed to check a man’s prostate. But this exam also allows your doctor to feel abnormalities for both men and women in other areas, such as the rectum, anus, uterus, ovaries and bladder.
Why might I need a digital rectal exam?
You might have a digital rectal exam as part of a routine checkup, for screening, or when you have symptoms related to your digestive, urinary or reproductive organs. For example, your doctor may use the exam to feel for changes in your prostate if you have symptoms like frequent urination.
As part of the screening and diagnosis of prostate, gynecologic, colon or rectal cancers, your doctor will often use a digital rectal exam along with other tests—like a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test, a pelvic exam or a stool test. Your doctor can sometimes collect a stool sample during the exam to test for hidden blood, called a fecal occult blood test, which may help detect colorectal polyps or cancer.
Some symptoms that might lead to a digital rectal exam include:
- Rectal bleeding
- Changes in urinary habits
- Changes in bowel habits
- Urinary incontinence
- Fecal incontinence
- Constipation
- Rectal pain
The exam lets your provider look for signs of conditions such as:
- Enlarged prostate
- Prostate cancer
- Rectal cancer
- Hemorrhoids
- Colon cancer
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Fecal impaction
- Pelvic floor disorders
- Fecal incontinence
- Gynecological cancers
Who performs a digital rectal exam?
A digital rectal exam is typically performed in the office by primary care providers or specialists caring for digestive, urinary or pelvic health needs. The provider who performs your exam will depend on your specific symptoms or health condition.
For example, your gastroenterologist could perform the exam if you have a digestive condition. For pelvic health, your obstetrician and gynecologist might perform a digital rectal exam along with a pelvic exam. Other doctors, such as urologists, surgeons and oncologists, use this exam, too.
How often should I get a digital rectal exam?
Your doctor may recommend a digital rectal exam as part of your annual checkup, prostate cancer screening or well-woman exam. If you choose prostate cancer screening, the American Cancer Society recommends screening every two years if your PSA test is below 2.5 and every year if it’s above 2.5.
How do I prepare for a digital rectal exam?
How it is done
Like many other routine physical exams, a digital rectal exam is done in your doctor’s office in the privacy of an exam room. Your care team will give you instructions on how to stand or lie down for the exam. They’ll let you know what to expect as they perform the exam so that you feel more comfortable.
Understanding the results
You can talk with your doctor and ask any questions about your results immediately following your digital rectal exam. Your doctor will also let you know if you need other tests as a follow-up to your exam.