Canterbury Ostomy Society - Pouch Changes - Canterbury, New Zealand

Ostomy Pouch Changes

This question is among those most frequently asked, particulary by ileostomates and urostomy patients. Like any other question, there is no one answer that applies to all ostomates.

An informal survey revealed that people change their appliances as much as 3 times a day and as infrequently as every 2 to 4 weeks. Obviously, there must be reason for this great variation. After pointing out that the great majority of ileostomy and urostomy patients change in the range of once daily, to once a week, let us explore some of the reasons. People on either side of the spectrum can have a skin problem or skin which is nearly indestructable. Some of the reasons for the variation in time between changes include:

• Stoma length: A short stoma exposes the adhesive material to moisture which decreases wearing time.
• Amount of consistency of effluent: Profuse effluent tends to loosen the seal.
• Skin type: Moist or oily skin tends to decrease adhesion time.