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Bladder and Bowel
Colostomy: Pros and Cons
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Bladder and Bowel
Colostomy: Pros and Cons
Articles
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Spinal Cord Injuries Australia
RH 42

Colostomy: Pros and Cons, New Mobility April 2014

Spinal cord injury and cranky bowels go hand and hand. SCI tends to shunt our bowels into the slow lane, which is often at the core of many related problems cited by wheelers. Aging tends to slow them down more. For some that’s enough to cause persistent and significant constipation, long programs, irregularity and unpredictability sufficient to force major surgical action. A colostomy involves surgically redirecting the colon (large intestine) to a stoma (surgically-created hole) in the abdominal region to allow fecal matter to exit the body and into a bag the user wears for that purpose. This is not some cosmetic or to-be-considered-lightly procedure; a colostomy is usually a major surgery which significantly alters the body and how it performs a very basic and vital task.

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