A stoma is the name given to a connection between your gut on the inside and the skin surface of your tummy. A stoma allows waste products – faeces – to be passed out of your body before it reaches the end of your gut. Your stoma is then connected to a stoma bag which collects the waste. A stoma has no nerve supply, so it does not hurt. If a stoma connects the colon (large intestine), to the surface the tummy, it is called a colostomy. If it is made from a connection between the ileum (small intestine), and the abdominal wall, it is called an ileostomy.
A colostomy and an ileostomy look quite similar, but there are some differences in their appearance and in the appearance and amount of faeces that enters the stoma bag. The faeces coming from an ileostomy tends to be liquid and can be of reasonably large volume (up to 1 L per day, or higher in the case of some people who have what is called a ‘high output stoma’). The faeces entering a colostomy bag tends to be much more solid and of smaller volume and looks more like normal faeces that is passed normally into the toilet.
A stoma can be permanent or temporary. A temporary stoma may be used to allow your gut to heal after bowel surgery – once your gut is healed, your stoma can be closed and your bowel re-joined – this is called a stoma reversal.
