About

Your surgeon will give you a colostomy after removing your rectum or a part of your colon. A colostomy refers to the creation of an abdominal opening that connects to the colon diversion. The surgeon brings the end of the healthy section of the colon out through this opening to create a stoma.

Managing a colostomy involves using a colostomy bag. You will need to wear this bag over your stoma to manage stool evacuations. There is an entire set of instructions regarding how to manage your colostomy with the help of a colostomy bag.

Alternatively, you can consider irrigating your colostomy. The best thing about this procedure is that it allows you to wear a mini colostomy pouch or a stoma cap instead of a large colostomy bag. It is a perfect solution for people who want to engage in physical activities, but they find their colostomy bags as the greatest hurdle in this regard. Colostomy irrigation is a way to regulate your bowel movements.

What is colostomy irrigation?

Colostomy irrigation involves installing water into your colon to trigger the bowel movement. The most notable benefit of this approach is that it allows you to empty your colon at the same time each day. It is a perfect way to avoid problems like constipation and leaks.

This procedure, however, may not be useful for everyone.

You may be the right candidate for colostomy irrigation if:

• You have a permanent colostomy
• You have a colostomy in the descending or sigmoid part of the colon.

Generally, you can irrigate your colostomy if your stool is more formed. You should not go for this procedure if you have the following issues.

• Stoma issues
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• You have a stoma in the transverse or ascending colon

The best time to irrigate your stoma

The maximum duration between two colostomy irrigations is three days, but it is ideal to irrigate your stoma every day at a set time. The most significant benefits of colostomy irrigation include the prevention of constipation, more regulated bowel movements, and leakage prevention.

Your schedule to irrigate your colostomy will depend on your personal preferences. Depending on your bowel habits, you can irrigate your colostomy up to twice a day. You just have to make sure to irrigate your colostomy at the same time every day.

The best time to schedule colostomy irrigation is generally one hour after mealtime. That said, you will also have to fix a schedule of when to eat your meal every day. It will help you regulate your bowel movement in a much better way.

Process of colostomy irrigation

You will need to have all of the supplies that you will need during irrigation. Those supplies include a paper towel, irrigation sleeve, irrigation kit, water-based lubricant, colostomy pouch, and lukewarm water.

The process of irrigation will take up to one hour.

The irrigation kit consists of a container and tubing to supply water to your colostomy. You will need to connect an enema at the end of the tubing.

First of all, fill the container with water and connect tubing to it. Run the pump to remove air from the tubing. Attach the enema with the tubing and insert it into the stoma. Run the pump again and let the water flow into your colon. It will take 10 minutes for the container to push 1000ml of water into the colon.

Now, remove the enema and attach the sleeve to the flange. The other end of the sleeve should be inside the toilet bowl. The bowel movement created in response to the irrigation will empty the colon in the next few minutes. Once your colon is empty, you can wear a small colostomy bag or a stoma cap.

To know more about colostomy irrigation, discuss with your ostomy care nurse or doctor.