An opening created in the abdomen to allow urine to leave the body is known as a urostomy. Your surgeon may opt to give you a urostomy when there is no option left other than the removal of your diseased bladder. The opening created in the abdomen to pass out urine is known as a stoma.
You can get help in ostomy care from Wound, ostomy, and continence nurses working at several medical centers. You can talk to your surgeon if you want to meet a nurse.
Right after surgery, you may not be able to resume your previous routine. It will take some time for you to recover from surgery. During this recovery phase, you will learn to adapt to life with a urostomy. It will include your work, physical activities, and social and domestic engagements.
It generally takes 2 to 3 weeks for a person to recover fully from urostomy surgery. After this recovery phase, you may engage in normal physical activities such as hiking, swimming, camping, and certain other sports activities. You might, however, need to avoid lifting too heavy objects as they can cause stain on your abdominal muscles, causing your stoma to sink or protrude.
Generally, you can wear any clothing, except for the tight ones, as those can cause problems with the drainage tube. You may want to wear loose pants to conceal and protect the pouch well. You can also discuss clothing options with your nurse.
Caring for your urostomy
With a urostomy, your body expels urine from your stoma instead of the urethra. With no sphincter muscles in the stoma, you will have no control when urine leaves your body. You are going to have to wear an odor-proof plastic bag over the stoma to collect urine. The pouch attaches to the skin around the stoma using a skin barrier, which has adhesive on the side that has to go against the skin. An ostomy pouch can be one-piece or two-piece.
Ostomy pouches
- A two-piece ostomy pouch consists of a skin barrier and the pouch as two separable units. You can combine these units to complete the system. The ease of using a two-piece ostomy pouch is that it allows you to fit the skin barrier over the stoma before attaching the pouch. Once the skin barrier is in place, you can snap the pouch onto the flange.
- A one-piece ostomy pouch is a single unit with the skin barrier and the pouch as integrated elements.
Urostomy pouches are mostly drainable, as the frequency of urine passing out of the body is generally higher. There are, however, closed-end pouches available to meet specific requirements.
Changing a urostomy pouch
Generally, you will need to replace a urostomy pouch every 4-7 days. It helps you protect your peristomal skin from developing irritation, which can occur as a result of its contact with the stomal output.
To remove the old pouch, press the skin around the skin barrier using one hand, and use the other hand to pull the skin barrier. This process should as gentle as possible because you don’t want to have an injury to the skin. After removing the old pouch, clean the skin around the stoma using warm water. Pat the skin area dry. Make sure that the new pouch has an opening that fits the shape and size of your stoma. Put the new pouch on, and apply pressure on the skin barrier to ensure its even adhesion to the peristomal skin.
You may want to stay in touch with your doctor or ostomy care nurse, so it may be necessary to have them on quick dial.