Ostomy Care
Many of us who work in wound care also need some basic skills concerning challenges with ostomies. Ostomies are quite common in Africa, and there are obvious financial barriers for many patients to obtain the necessary products.
In this chapter, we will provide you with general principles about osteotomies and how to deal with leakage, skin irritation, and complications like ulcerations around the stoma site. The chapter will also discuss methods of improvizing, when commercial products are not available. This chapter is still in the making. In the meantime, we have collected several educational videos on various ostomy topics to get you started.
Improvising when commercial ostomy equipment is not available
Figure 1 The article by Buckley et al., 2012, titled "The People That the Ostomy Industry Forgot," is still highly relevant today. It sheds light on the reality for many people with a stoma in tropical countries. These patients have to improvise with whatever they have to make an ostomy collection bag. Click on the image above to access the full-length article. Copyright: Buckley et al. British Journal of General Practice.
Figure 2 The article above is one of many from regions in Africa, where there can be long-stretched periods with shortages of ostomy bags. Click on the image above to read the article. Credit: spotlightnsp.co.za
Figure 3 Students at Duke University have come up with a low-cost substitute to a commercial ostomi device. By clicking on the image above, you can get to the article. In the article, you will also find a video in which the students are explaining the technique.
Videos explaining more about stoma devices, and how to deal with more challenging stomas.
We have collected a number of useful videos on the topic of ostomy. Once we have finalized this chapter, we will structure the content in a more educative manner.
