Ileostomy

        When talking about ileostomy, most people make several mistakes. First, the general population assumes that ileostomy is a disease. Secondly, for the slightly better informed, but still not completely, ileostomy is connected to a terminal illness. And, finally, no one seems to know what ileostomy really is. To people that look at ileostomy pictures, it becomes associated with a sort of grotesque appearance of the affected person. To others, it remains a vague idea that has little chance of sorting itself out. The truth behind all these falsities is a very simple one, though no one seems to consider it: ileostomy is a surgical procedure. It is not a disease, it is not a cure and it, most definitely, does not carry a death sentence. Actually, most people that have undergone the ileostomy procedure are alive and well and have been so for the better part of four decades.

       However, before we go into more detailed information about ileostomy, let us begin with the basics. Of course, the most important piece of information about ileostomy comes in the shape of its medical textbook definition: ileostomy is an opening of in the ileum, a part of the small intestine. This opening is not considered an ulceration from the very simple and very obvious reason that it extends all the way to the exterior of the body. Basically, this opening is man - made. The true and essential question here is: what could possibly be the purpose of this rather barbaric type of surgery? After all, surgeons are known for trying to close these kinds of holes, not create them. Well, no matter the disease it is used in as part of the treatment scheme, the ileostomy procedure has one purpose and one only: to allow the digestive process to continue unhinged, even if the lower digestive tract is damaged permanently or temporarily. Unlike colostomy, a related procedure, ileostomy does not create an alternative anus and rectum through which solid wastes can be eliminated. No, ileostomy creates a stoma.

        ...see more Ileostomy pictures: Ileostomy pictures

       It is best to leave the technicalities to the specialists, but a general outlook on the surgery itself is easy enough to explain. If the patient still remains unsure about the steps of the ileostomy, sometimes ileostomy pictures, detailing the phases of the surgery are very useful. In general and in plain words, things go a little like this: the surgeon opens the abdomen of the patient, he or she locates the affected area and separates the small intestine from the large intestine. Afterwards, a hole is created in the abdominal wall. This hole is called a stoma (from the Greek word meaning "mouth") and it has only one purpose: to connect whatever is left of the small intestine of the sufferer to the ileostomy bag. This ileostomy bag works as a collector of the wastes of the patients' body. It allows the digestive system to continue working, if somewhat incompletely, thus assuring the survival of the sufferer. The food is processed almost completely and the nutrients are passed through the small intestine membrane into the bloodstream. Of course, not everything is as easy as that, but the general idea is the one presented above.

       An attentive person could ask the following question: what are the ileostomy complications? This is an answer that every physician dreads giving. Why? Simply because there are so many of them that the patient might not be interested in the surgery. However, the reality is that some patients actually need this surgery to survive. Others might have options, but some do not. For example, one of the most feared ileostomy complications is infection. One could argue that this is a problem for all surgical procedures. That might be true, but a person that requires an ileostomy already has a lowered immunity. While a patient that has undergone an appendectomy will survive an infection, an ileostomy patient might not. Unfortunately, there is very little that a physician can do to stop an infection from overtaking the body of a patient. Luckily, the entry point of the bacterium or virus is low enough in the body that it responds rather quickly and efficiently to all sorts of antibiotics and antiviral drugs.

       Other problems that are reported by patients are bleedings from the stoma and foul smells. The bleedings are somewhat normal if they are limited to the moments when the sufferer removes the stoma bag for cleaning. However, if these bleedings appear in other moments, the issues might be a bit more profound: they can range from the very innocuous, like an excessive tightening of the ileostomy bag on the stoma, to the more important and life - threatening, like a tumor developing on the edges of the intestine that are connected to the stoma bag. In the first case, a quick visit to your attending physician or your stoma nurse will solve the problem. In the second case, in depth investigations are required for a solution to be found.

       For the foul smells, perfumed stoma bags have been invented. Obviously, they are much more expensive than the ones that are normally used, but that has not stopped patients from purchasing them just to ensure that their lives are not affected by the putrid smells of bodily wastes. However, for those that cannot afford one of these scented stoma bags, the best advice that anyone can offer is to wash the ileostomy bag every time the digestive process is finalized and to try and avoid foods that will generate strong smells after they have been digested, including beans, spinach and pork meat.

       There are two categories of ileostomy surgical procedures out there: permanent ones and temporary ones. In the case of temporary ileostomy, the patient has suffered a major abdominal trauma, like a stabbing or a shooting. Until his or her body recovers, the digestive system must do its job without causing any more pain to an already suffering person. After a while, the small intestine is reattached to the large one and the digestive process runs its natural course once more.

       If the ileostomy is permanent, then the person has been diagnosed with a type of cancer, be it anus or rectum cancer or even a colon cancer. Also, if the patient has suffered from an intestinal occlusion, the ileostomy surgery might be the only chance they have for surviving.