Stoma (medicine)

This includes the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, ileum, colon, pleural cavity, ureters, urinary bladder, and renal pelvis.

The GIT begins at the mouth or oral cavity and continues until its termination, which is the anus.

Examples of gastrointestinal stomata include:[citation needed] One well-known form of an artificial stoma is a colostomy, which is a surgically created opening in the large intestine that allows the removal of feces out of the body, bypassing the rectum, to drain into a pouch or other collection device.

For greatest success and to minimize negative effects, it is preferable to perform this procedure as low down in the tract as possible, as this allows the maximal amount of natural digestion to occur before eliminating fecal matter from the body.

The stoma is usually covered with a removable pouching system (adhesive or mechanical) that collects and contains the output for later disposal.

Colostomy
Patient with a colostomy complicated by a large parastomal hernia, which is when tissue protrudes adjacent to the stoma tract.
CT scan of same patient, showing intestines within the hernia.
Parastomal hernia is the most common late complication of stomata through the abdominal wall , occurring in 10 to 25% of the patients. [ 1 ]