principles of daily care of the stoma

In recent years, with the gradual increase in the incidence of colorectal and rectal tumors, according to incomplete statistics, taking China as an example, more than 100,000 new ostomy patients are diagnosed each year. The incidence of colorectal cancer and bladder cancer continues to increase. As one of the important means of treating diseases, ostomy surgery also makes the number of people with stoma show an increasing trend. Enterostomy is also one of the most frequently performed surgeries in surgery and is often an important means of saving lives, prolonging lives, and improving quality of life. Various stoma complications often occur after enterostomy, which not only aggravates the suffering of patients, increases economic expenditure, but also seriously affects the quality of life of patients after surgery. This article will introduce you to the common problems and self-care methods in-home care after ostomy surgery, so let's take a look at it with me.

Stoma defecation training:

①Relax before defecation: Relax before defecation, take deep breaths, and maintain normal and even breathing.

②Choose the right time for defecation: Everyone's habitual time for defecation is different, in the morning and the evening, according to your situation, you can usually choose after breakfast because the stomach and intestines are more active at this time.

③ Appropriate posture: choose a posture that is convenient for defecation, and you can choose the left lateral position for the left enterostomy.

④Massage: You can massage your stomach when you defecate, and stroke your stomach in a clockwise direction with your hands to promote the peristalsis of intestinal contents and help with defecation.

⑤ Exercise: Proper exercise can promote defecation, but avoid some actions that excessively increase abdominal pressure, such as violent coughing, lifting heavy objects, etc. Normal work can be resumed after six months.

Treatment of skin problems around the stoma:

In enterostomy patients, excrement leaks onto the skin around the stoma, and the excrement from the digestive tract is alkaline and corrodes the skin. The skin may be itchy and red at first. If the stool continues to soak, the skin will become inflamed, the inflamed skin will become very edema, and the skin will be damaged by frequent friction. These problems can also bring a lot of trouble to life.

①Itching, redness, and swelling: Thoroughly wash the skin around the stoma with water, dry it, and check the scope and severity of redness and swelling. Then spray Longterm Medical Skin Protective, then wipe off the excess powder, then apply Longterm Medical Spray, and paste the stoma tray after drying. When removing the chassis again, be careful and slow to protect the skin around the stoma to avoid re-injury.

②Inflammation: The reasons for the formation of dermatitis include inappropriate cutting of the stoma chassis, uneven skin around the stoma, and highly corrosive excreta. Therefore, after inflammation, the cause should be analyzed first, and symptomatic treatment should be carried out. In mild cases, thoroughly clean the skin, dry it and spray a small amount of Longterm Medical Skin Protective, and then apply Longterm Medical Spray. In severe cases, go to the ostomy clinic or doctor.

③Skin damage: When the skin around the stoma is damaged, it is recommended to consult a stoma therapist in time to find the cause and help solve the problem. In addition, when using the ostomy belt, pay attention to the changes in the skin compressed by the belt, and pay attention to how often to change the position.

④Skin bleeding: When the skin around the stoma is red, swollen, or damaged, the skin will bleed easily if the stoma chassis is replaced violently or the skin is torn by external pressure. Skin bleeding should also be consulted with an ostomy therapist to solve the cause that is likely to cause bleeding. At the same time, the operation should be gentle to reduce re-bleeding and promote skin healing.

What precautions should be taken in the diet of patients with enterostomy?

After gastrointestinal stoma patients are discharged from the hospital, a reasonable diet is a very important part of the rehabilitation process, and a regular diet and balanced nutrition should be achieved. In terms of diet, patients with enterostomy do not need to eat too special requirements, because stoma is not a disease. Since everyone's physique and habits are different, you only need to slowly adjust to the recipe that suits you.

①Avoid spicy food. People who like heavy flavors and do not like spicy food should pay attention: spicy food should not be eaten after gastrointestinal surgery, because spicy food can stimulate the gastrointestinal tract. We have had this feeling: after eating spicy hot pot, the anus also feels hot when defecating the next day, and some people even have symptoms of abdominal pain. It can be seen that the stimulation of the mucous membrane by spicy food should not be underestimated.

② Foods that produce gas and odor. Some patients feel unacceptable because of the smell of stool when changing the ostomy bag, so some adjustments should be made to the food they eat. Try not to eat flavor-producing foods: onions, leeks, green peppers, or a lot of fish, meat, etc. Some patients feel that there is a lot of exhaust, the ostomy bag will swell a lot in a short time, the exhaust is frequent or there is a sound when the intestinal stoma is exhausted, and it feels embarrassing many times. In this case, when choosing food, you should try to eat less gas-producing foods: radishes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, leeks, beans, etc.

③Avoid high-fat diets: fatty meat, chicken skin, duck skin, chicken soup without meat, fish soup, and greasy meals, these may cause the patient to have diarrhea, which may easily cause stoma infection.

For more information on Innomed® Ostomy pouch, refer to the previous articles. If you have customized needs, you are welcome to contact us; we will serve you wholeheartedly.

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Editor: kiki Jia

Date: October 13, 2022