[Colostomy devices for the extracorporeal organ].

Colostomy devices are classified as follows: One-piece and two-piece by structure; Closed, open-end or straight, open-top, drainable, and mini by pouch function. The one-piece device is simple and convenient (disposable) but not cheap; The two-piece one has various exchangeable pouches but some skill is necessary for fitting a pouch to the flange. A closed pouch is disposal en bloc, while an open pouch allows a hand to be inserted several times. The drainable pouch is useful for draining faeces easily with water, while a mini-pouch is unobtrusive and attractive. The skin barrier has been used frequently as a part of the device. Its contents are hydrophilic colloid, hydrophobic colloid and agglutinant. The barrier functioning is dependent on content-ratio and on structure. The latter is classified as blend, laminate, swiss-roll, polka-dot, and froth in type. The apparatus must be used for individual colostomy, utilizing the characteristics based on its specificity; an open-type one-piece unit is used with skin barrier for a postoperative colostomy in the first week, a drainable-type, two-piece unit for another week following suture removal or for diarrhea, and a closed type for rehabilitation. This procedure is called a pouch total system. The irrigation method is good for a scheduled defecation and for peri-stomal dermatitis and for a deformed stoma, but takes more than a half hour and needs a special toilet for irrigation. Indication of the method is for a young ostomate, a sportsman, a field worker, a neurotic or myosophobic person and so on. Today a pouch-free natural defecation method is becoming popular; a kind of stopper is used for a colostomy. This is a foam plug which expands to block feces and eliminates noise and odor. The method is good for pouch-free living, but fecal leakage is encountered in diarrhea.