Stoma Care

An ostomy is a surgically created opening (stoma) on the abdominal wall through which a portion of the gastrointestinal or urinary tract is diverted to the body surface. The stoma is created by bringing a segment of bowel or ureter through the abdominal wall and suturing the mucosal surface to the skin (mucocutaneous junction). A healthy stoma appears beefy red and moist, similar in color and texture to the oral buccal mucosa, because it is composed of intestinal or urothelial mucosa with a rich vascular supply. There are three main types of ostomy. A colostomy involves diversion of a portion of the colon: ascending colostomy produces semi-liquid stool, transverse colostomy produces semi-formed stool, and descending or sigmoid colostomy produces formed stool most similar to normal bowel movements. An ileostomy involves diversion of the ileum (the last portion of the small intestine): output is liquid to semi-liquid and contains active digestive enzymes, making peristomal skin protection critical because the effluent is highly irritating and corrosive to skin. A urostomy (ileal conduit) is a urinary diversion in which a segment of ileum...