Background
Complications are common after ostomy surgery. Data from the Berlin OStomy Study were evaluated to determine risk factors for complications.
Patients and methods
Patients with a bowel ostomy were questioned using a questionnaire concerning patients’ characteristics and history as well as the ostomy and its complications. The questionnaire also contained a nine‐fielded abdominal sketch to determine the exact ostomy location.
Results
Over 42 months, 2647 patients completed the questionnaire. Obese patients and patients after emergency surgery were more prone to ostomy‐related complications. This result was independent of the kind of ostomy (small bowel ostomy or colostomy) and of the abdominal location. The overall ostomy complication rate was 55.6%.
Conclusion
Significantly more complications were recorded after emergency surgery and in obese patients than after elective surgery and in non‐obese patients, respectively. There was no preferential abdominal location for avoiding general ostomy complications. The results emphasized the importance of preoperative ostomy site marking by qualified personnel such as ostomy nurses or surgeons to reduce complication rates by respecting individual abdominal configurations. With an increasing prevalence of obesity, ostomy surgery will become even more challenging in the future. A division of the abdominal wall into nine regions might be helpful and more precise for describing and examining ostomy‐related complications in the future.
QoL differed significantly for CS and SBS patients, but the effect size was marginal. The care of certain patient groups, particularly (female) patients who receive emergency surgeries, must be improved. More professional education and guidance are necessary for a larger proportion of patients. This survey provided reference data for quality of life in patients with an ostomy.
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