Overview
An ostomy is a surgical procedure performed when normal bowel or bladder function is lost due to birth defects, disease, treatment for disease, or injury. Conditions that may require an ostomy include colorectal cancer, traumatic injury to the bowel or bladder, diverticulitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and removal of the bladder. Cancer necessitates nearly 80% of ostomy procedures. Ostomy procedures are performed in a hospital and patients are admitted for several days or longer, depending on the severity of the condition and complications that occur.
An ostomy may be temporary or permanent. Temporary ostomies are created when the digestive tract must be allowed to heal without irritation caused by the passage of stool. The surgery allows the body's wastes
(e.g., stool, urine) to be expelled through an opening created in the abdomen. Types of ostomy procedures include colostomy, ileostomy, and urostomy. The type performed depends on the location and extent of the disease or injury. A person who has had ostomy surgery is an ostomate.
Types
Colostomy A colostomy involves creating an opening in the abdomen (ostomy) and pulling through a portion of the large intestine (colon). This is called a stoma and allows stool to pass directly out of the body, bypassing the diseased or damaged section of the colon. The consistency and frequency of the discharge from the stoma depends on the type of colostomy performed. There are four main types: ascending, transverse, descending, and sigmoid.
A colostomy is performed under general anesthesia, and the operating time varies according to the extent of the damage to the colon. Once the damaged section is located, the surgeon clamps both ends of the colon and brings one end out through the ostomy. This end becomes the stoma, and the other end of the colon remains clamped off. Sometimes the damaged section is removed.
Ascending colostomy —This procedure is performed in the ascending colon, on the right side of the abdomen. The stool that passes from this type is liquid to semiliquid and is rich in digestive enzymes. This discharge is often irritating to the skin around the stoma (peristomal skin).
Transverse colostomy —This procedure is performed in the transverse section of the colon, across the middle of the abdomen. Discharge from this type is usually liquid to semiformed in consistency and is less irritating to peristomal skin.
Descending colostomy —This type is performed in the descending portion of the colon, on the left side of the abdomen. Stool is semiformed to formed in consistency because most of the water has been absorbed as it moves through the ascending and transverse sections of the colon.
Sigmoid colostomy —This procedure is performed in the sigmoid colon, on the lower left side of the abdomen. Stool has a normal, formed consistency.
See also: Colostomy (more details)
Ileostomy An ileostomy is p...
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