COLOSTOMY BOWEL CONTROL

COLOSTOMY BOWEL CONTROL


Patients with a right-sided or upper colostomy do not have as much remaining colon as those with a left-sided or lower colostomy. Because of this, there is usually too little colon left in a lower colostomy to absorb enough water to make a solid stool. A lower colostomy cannot be controlled by irrigation, but instead behaves very much like an ileostomy, with fairly continuous discharge.

The left-sided colostomy is often described as a ‘dry’ colostomy since it usually discharges formed stool. One has the choice of attempting to manage this type of colostomy by either trained control or irrigation control. Only 1/3 of the people who at-tempt to train themselves to control the lower colostomy without irrigation are successful in doing so. This control is more easily and satisfactorily achieved by irrigation. However, there are some patients who can’t achieve irrigation control because they have an ‘irritable bowel’. This problem has nothing to do with the colostomy. It is just part of some people’s makeup. Some people, even before they have their colostomy, may have had very irregular bowel habits. They retain these habits after the colostomy is performed.

Regular irrigation does not assure regularity with irritable bowel syndrome. When this condition exists, the physician will some-times suggest that the patient dispense with irrigation, since it does not produce the desired regular pattern. People may become frustrated by trying to achieve this. People with an irritable bowel situation should treat the colostomy much like an ileostomy by wearing an ostomy appliance all of the time.





Source: Saskatoon Ostomy Association Bulletin, August 2012

Thanks to InsideOut
11.20.2012
/jasmine

People with 2 Colostomy Bags

One of our readers asked why some have 2 colostomy bags:

The following are the possible answers gathered from friends.

Photo courtesy of Phil Esgate (http://philostomate.blogspot.com/)

1. Possibly to rest one stoma for awhile? One may be more for mucous rather than legit output.

2.  They sometimes have two after a difficult surgery with a contaminated abdomen. One will produce only mucus. Or they could have a colostomy/ileostomy and a urostomy. Urostomy would be if urinary bladder was removed due to cancer or trauma.

3. Yes. If there are birth defects/injuries where there is a neurogenic branded such as spinal cord injury or spina bifida. Spina bifida patients usually have a "button" urostomy. So many situations that can lead to it.

4. A double barrel ostomy forms 2 stomas. One is nonfunctioning meaning that no feces is expelled, yet mucous is discharged so sometimes it is called a mucous fistula. Sometimes this is sewn shut and left in abdomen which then expels mucous through there.

Thanks by Clostomy Friends
Please join our National Federation of Ostomates. Email us at colostomyfriends@gmail.com (Jean)

Ostomy Wound Care tips

Caring for a Wound

Special care must always be taken when caring for a wound:

1. Before dressing a wound, clean it thoroughly with sponges and cleansing solution. Do not allow scab to form in the wound which will cause infection. Use a gauze with saline solution to scrub of the wound. In case it bleeds, just put pressure with gauze until bleeding stops.
2. Also, remove any body hair which also contributes to infection.
3. Pat the wound dry with a different, clean sponge.
4. When the wound is clean and dry, apply the dressings appropriate to the severity of the wound.
5. When removing old dressings, always remove one layer at a time, not all at once.

Remember:
Calmoseptine and Desitine is for rashes and allergies while Silver Sulfadiazine is for wound treatment.

You can add anymore tips for ostomy wound care.
Salamat po - Jean Pablo