surgery

What You Need to Know About Colostomy Bag: An Overview

A colostomy bag is a plastic device bag used to collect fecal matter from the digestive tract through an abdominal wall opening called a stoma. Doctors used a colostomy bag for stoma protection following a colostomy operation. A surgeon will bring out a portion of a person’s large intestine through the stoma during a colostomy. The colostomy bag can then collect stool as it passes through the gut. A person often needs a colostomy due to injury, disease, or another issue with the lower bowels. Depending on the cases, the colostomy bag is either temporary or permanent, especially for colon cancer patients. Read below to find out more. 

What is a Colostomy Bag?

A colostomy bag, also called an ostomy bag or stoma bag is a small waterproof bag used to collect waste from the human body. It means that waste products can be ejected through the intestinal wall opening and not through the entire colon through the anus. The procedure is used to treat diseases that involve lesions to the large intestine or colon, such as colorectal cancer, Crohn’s disease, Diverticulitis, and Ulcerative colitis. The bag is inserted in the new opening created in the intestinal wall to have the possibility to collect the stool as well as other waste products in the body. Complete guidelines for the replacement of the colostomy bag or the use of a drainable version will be provided at the clinic where the person is treated, along with suggestions for finding all important equipment, such as spare parts.

When is a Colostomy Bag Needed?

Colostomies can be suitable for people of all ages. They are usually recommended for people who have problems with their particular colon or at a time when the rectal sphincter muscle is not functioning correctly. The removal of waste products from the body through the stoma may be necessary for treating certain diseases such as inflammation or colon injury, including Hirschsprung’s disease, a rare condition where the bowel lacks nerve cells, and Abdominal/pelvic region cancers, including colorectal cancer and more rarely anal, vaginal or cervical cancer, among others.

Colostomy Bag Operation

Two surgical processes are used to create a stoma in the abdomen: Loop colostomy, in which a loop of the colon or large intestine is pulled through the stoma in the gut, opened and stitched to the skin, and End colostomy, where the end of the colon or large intestine is pulled through the stoma in the abdomen and stitched to the skin. Both procedures are considered routine operations, but the method used depends on whether the patient is likely to recover after recovery through a follow-up procedure called colostomy reversal. Both Loop and End procedures are often performed with keyhole surgery, as an embryonic process in the tradition, but some situations may require more sophisticated procedure. Open surgery usually involves a more extended recovery period.