Things You May Want To Know About A Colostomy

An opening in the abdomen to allow the large bowel to connect to the outside of the body is known as a colostomy. The purpose of this diversion is to allow bodily wastes to leave the body without proceeding to the diseased part of the bowel. Because a colostomy lets you retain a section of your bowel, the stool you pass out from the stoma is formed, but it might vary in some cases.

There are two types of colostomy: end colostomy and loop colostomy.

End colostomy

The surgeon will give you an end colostomy after removing a part of your bowel. He will bring the end of the active GI tract through the abdominal wall to create a stoma. Depending on the underlying reason and its severity, the end colostomy can be permanent or temporary.

The surgeon will create a temporary end colostomy to give the diseased part of the colon some rest to recover from the disease. The recovery duration may extend to a few weeks, a few months, or even a few years.

Loop colostomy

The surgeon may choose to give you a loop colostomy due to a bowel obstruction. The ostomy will stop the waste from proceeding to the problem area of the colon. The procedure to create this type of colostomy involves pulling out of a loop of the colon. The surgeon will make a small incision on the top of that loop. This incision will open two ends, one of which evacuates bodily wastes, while the second one connects to the diseased part of the colon along with the rectum and anus. The location of a loop stoma can vary depending on the location of the infection.

Reasons for a colostomy

There can be various reasons you may need a colostomy. Your nurse and surgeon will explain the procedure and everything related to ostomy care.

Here are some of the reasons why you may need a colostomy.

• Diverticulitis
• Crohn’s disease
• Bowel incontinence
• Trauma
• Cancer
• Congenital abnormalities
• Damage due to radiation

How does a stoma look and feel like?

Generally, a stoma should be a little protruded from the surface of the abdominal skin. It is soft, moist, and red or pink. The overall appearance of the stoma is pretty much like the inside of the mouth.

The stoma doesn’t have any nerve endings, meaning that you won’t feel anything while touching or rubbing it. With a rich blood supply, it, however, may bleed easily. A stoma can bleed when you clean it, so it shouldn’t be a cause of concern unless there is excessive bleeding.

The stoma may be swollen during the first few weeks after surgery. This swelling can result in an enlarged stoma, but it should reduce in size over time. The stoma will have some stitches around it, but they generally dissolve with time.

Conclusion

A colostomy is a life-saving procedure that generally makes the stoma a permanent feature of the body. If you have this stoma, you have to make sure to take good care of it. A significant part of ostomy care involves taking care of the peristomal skin. Healthy peristomal skin ensures a leak-proof seal between the peristomal skin and the skin barrier.

If you face any issues related to ostomy care, you may want to discuss them with your ostomy care nurse.

A Brief Introduction of Colostomy and Types of Colostomy

What is Colostomy Surgery?

When doctors remove a small portion of the colon and bring the other part of the large intestine to the abdomen wall to create a stoma, it is called colostomy surgery.

The stoma (an artificial hole in the belly wall) needs a container or bag to collect the stool. A colostomy surgeon removes a small part of the colon (large intestine) that is injured or infected and connects the other part to the stoma. The patients who are suffering from colon cancer, colon injury, acute gastrointestinal pain, IBD or poor performance of the large intestine need colostomy surgery. It is a lifesaving surgery for cancer patients.

Why a Person Needs Colostomy Surgery?

A colostomy is a common type of ostomy surgery. It belongs to the disease and treatment of large intestine and bowel. Through the colostomy surgery, surgeons create a new path of pooping. When a patient needs the operation, it means his natural process of discharging feces is not working. Therefore, he needs a stoma to excrete the waste. The large intestine absorbs the watery solution from the stool and saves it until the movement of the bowel happens. If the large intestine (colon) cannot perform these functions, the person needs treatment.

The function of the large intestine (colon) is to convert the unused food into feces. It receives all the unabsorbed food from the small intestine. The large intestine has to absorb water, nutrients, electrolytes, and some specific vitamins. When a person goes through the ostomy surgery, the feces cannot reach rectum and anus, after passing through the process of the small intestine (ileum) and large intestine (colon), it directly goes to the stoma.

Types of the Colostomy Surgery

The kind of surgery can be identified through the location of the stoma in every colostomy surgery.

The following are the types of colostomy:

•  Ascending Colostomy.
• Transverse Colostomy
• Descending or Sigmoid Colostomy.

Ascending Colostomy

When the stoma appears on the right side of the abdomen in the result of colostomy, it is an ascending colostomy. In this type of surgery, the discharge is very liquid. The thin liquid discharge is uncontrollable in the initial few days of the operation. Because of that, patients wear a reusable or drainable stoma bag. The discharge can happen at any time and four to five times a day. That is why you need to take care of your stoma, peristomal odor, and pouch.

Transverse Colostomy

When there is a colostomy in the upper right or the middle of the abdomen, then it is a transverse colostomy surgery. The primary causes of the transverse colostomy are diverticulitis, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, blocks, injury or birth defects in the colon (large intestine). After this operation, feces do not reach to the descending colon, before getting to the descending large intestine, the stool comes out through the stoma.

Descending or Sigmoid Colostomy

Doctors perform descending colostomy on the lower left side of the abdomen. The stool is firm when there is sigmoid surgery. It is the most often performed colostomy operation. The feces of the descendent colostomy do not have caustic enzyme content. Therefore, it discharges the solid and regulated waste. In this type of colostomy, the stool comes out at regular intervals. Thus, you can know your excretion timings. You can use a disposable stoma bag for a sigmoid colostomy. As it does not discharge the liquid stool, you have to clean the peristomal once a day. You do not have worries about frequent discharge and smell. However, in the case of constipation, you need to visit your doctor.

Some Other Types of Colostomies based on Construction

The following are the types of colostomies identified through the way of construction:

•                    Hartman’s Colostomy.

•                    Loop Colostomy.

•                    Double barrel Colostomy.

•                    Spectacle Colostomy.

Process of Draining and Cleaning the Ostomy Pouch

For new ostomates, several queries come to their minds regarding hygiene, draining, and cleaning of the ostomy pouch, work-life, intimacy, sports, and many more. Your doctor and nurse guide you thoroughly about your every activity. You will be able to wash, drain, and change your ostomy bag on your own; however, it needs some practice. You should adopt pertinent techniques to do your ostomy tasks without any help.

When a patient goes through the ostomy surgery, he knows the importance of ostomy pouch and other accessories. Doctors create an unnatural process of excreting urine or feces in a human’s body. For this, they construct a stoma in the belly wall of the patient. The stoma is on the outer side of the lower abdomen. It could be on the lower left or right side of the tummy. It depends on the type of ostomy surgery (urostomy, ileostomy, colostomy). For stoma, a patient needs some appropriate and significant accessories like stoma pouch, adhesive, wraps, flanges, skincare, deodorants, belt, and many more.

An ostomy patient should manage their physical health to control the quality of life. To cope up with the ostomy days, one should know how to do care for their peristomal skin, how to drain the stoma pouch, and how to clean it? Taking caring and managing your ostomy life is necessary to raise your quality of life and follow your previous life.

Accept the Stoma in your Life

Well, ostomy surgeries change the life of a person completely. After the operation, one has to adopt a new lifestyle. He has to follow the medical rules to run his days. One should adopt the living with a stoma after the ostomy. The first and foremost step is to accept the stoma and purpose of the stoma in your life.

You should adopt the new procedure of excretion. You should accept that now your natural process has changed, and you need to let out the poop and peep through an artificial path. A stoma is a new partner in your life. If you have had a temporary ostomy operation, then you have to bear with the stoma for a few months. However, if you have had a permanent surgery, then you should adopt the new lifestyle for the rest of your life.

Some patients have problems in adopting new life accessories and accepting the stoma. However, by the time, and listening to the guidance of your nurse and doctors, gradually, you will be able to follow the new paths of life. Once you get used to it, you will have no problem doing your all activities with the stoma.

Ostomy Pouch/Bag

When you use a disposable ostomy pouch, you can throw it away after the use. Once the bag is filled with the waste, you just need to get rid of the used ostomy pouch and apply the new one.

The reusable ostomy pouch is drainable and washable. You can clean it and reuse it. You can empty the waste matter from the bag, clean it, and apply it again on the peristomal. You need to empty the feces or urine in a bedpan. Hold the one end of the stoma pouch and throw away the matter in the bedpan. Clean it and reuse the pouch. Moreover, you should use a dry stoma pouch or dry peristomal skin.

A Few Essential Tips on Draining and Cleaning the Ostomy Pouch

The following are some necessary tips:

•  Always apply a dry pouch on the dry skin.
• If your stoma bag is not dry yet, use another a new and dry pouch until the used one gets dry.
• Always use a soft toilet paper or a piece of cloth to dry your skin.
• Do not ignore the bleeding from the stoma after a few days of the surgery.
• Use ostomy deodorant and spray to get rid of the bad odor.
• Always keep an ostomy kit in your bag while traveling, shopping, or outing.
• When the ostomy pouch is 1/3th full, empty it. Do not wait to get to full.
• After changing the stoma bag, wipe off the sides of the stoma.