October 2007
Page 8
Ostomies, aka the Hole in the Belly
By Jayant Radhakrishnan
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
--From Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)
Why do surgeons make up names such as stoma-stomas-stomata-urostomy-conduit-reservoir-ileostomy-colostomy etc. etc? Let us start with some definitions:
Generic terms:
- Stoma: From Greek for mouth . . . refers to creation of an opening
- Stomas or stomata: Plural of stoma
- Diversion: Rerouting from normal passageway May apply to any situation in which urinary or intestinal contents are rerouted from their normal path.
- Ostomy: Creation of a stoma in a hollow organ the first part of the name identifies the organ.
- Enterostomy: A stoma in any part of the intestine
- Urostomy: A stoma in any part of the urinary tract
- Intestinal reservoir: Creation of a receptacle for urine or feces within the body to replace the urinary bladder or rectum urinary reservoirs is often called neobladders. Reservoirs developed to replace the rectum are usually referred to by the name of the technique used in their creation e.g. J-pouch, U-pouch, etc.
Specific terms:
- Ileostomy: A stoma in the distal part of the small intestine, which is known as the ileum
- Colostomy: A stoma in any part of the large intestine, also known as the colon
- Conduits: A term used when a segment of intestine is used to replace part of the urinary tract. The ureters, which normally drain urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder, are inserted into the proximal end of the conduit while the distal end drains the urine on the surface of the abdomen.
- Ileal conduit: When the conduit is made from a segment of ileum
- Colon conduit: When the colon is used to form the conduit
SOURCE: The New Outlook on-line, UOA Chicago, August 2007, via Inside Out On-line Oct 2007.
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