Ostomy

At Westerly Hospital, ostomy services are available to teach patients and their loved ones the importance of caring for ostomies to avoid complications and improve quality of life. Our team has expertise in supporting and educating patients, managing their supplies and treating skin care issues and associated wounds or problems to promote self-sufficiency in their ostomy care.

An ostomy, either fecal or urinary, is an artificial opening on the outside of the body created through a surgical procedure in order to redirect bowels or urine when an illness or injury make it difficult to remove waste naturally from the body.

Our team provides teaching and training on enterostomal (opening from a section of intestine onto the abdominal wall through which urine or stool exits the body) care and therapies to patients managing temporary or permanent fecal or urinary ostomies. Services and treatments include preoperative counseling and care of the stoma site, post-operative stoma appliance pouching, regular follow-up care and addressing any urgent and chronic needs.

Services

• Preoperative educational visits with stoma site marking
• Postoperative follow-up, management and education
• Ostomy supply prescriptions
• Urgent visits for troubleshooting pouching and skin issues

When to make an appointment

• Stoma evaluation, questions about fitting appliance
• Pouch leakage
• Redness, pain or wounds at the site of the ostomy
• Retracted or difficult ostomies
• Skin breakdown