Then, as the patient relaxes and bears down (as if having a bowel movement), the physician slips a lubricated finger into the rectum through the anus and palpates the insides for a short time.

[medical citation needed] Due to the taboos surrounding the anus and the potential for discomfort and embarrassment, the rectal exam is a common comedic device, including in episodes of Saturday Night Live,[30] Impractical Jokers, Futurama, Family Guy, South Park, Letterkenny, and the movie Fletch, with M. Emmet Walsh as the general practitioner and Chevy Chase as the patient being examined.

Similar activities to the rectal exam are attributed to extraterrestrials in video games such as Saints Row IV, Gaia Online and Destroy All Humans!.

[33] In veterinary medicine rectal examination is useful in dogs for analysis of the prostate (as in men), pelvic urethra, sublumbar lymph nodes, and anal glands.

In horses it is a vital component of the clinical examination for colic, to determine the presence or absence of bowel torsion, impaction, or displacement.