The incidence of stomal and peristomal complications: preliminary results three months after stoma creation

BackgroundThe creation of an intestinal and/or urinary ostomy is often associated with a wide variety of complications, whose incidence and risk factors reported in the literature are often discordant.Aims A prospective longitudinal repeated-measures observational study was conducted aimed at investigating the incidence of complex stomal complications and ascertaining the determinants of their occurrence.The ultimate goal is to improve the available data for the development of new knowledge in this area.Methods A total of 181 adult subjects were recruited and followed for a period of three months at set intervals (T0 to T5), surveying the occurrence of any complications.Fisher's Test and Chi-square Test were used to study the relationship between the various variables and the occurrence of complications. ResultsComplications occur most frequently in the immediate postoperative period (iT0= 54.14%).The incidence rate of stomal and peristomal complications demonstrated a different distribution in the various follow-ups.Complications show a different character depending on the type of ostomy, with a higher incidence in intestinal ostomies; they also appear to be statistically correlated with the presence of general preoperative comorbidities. ConclusionsThe purpose of this study was to implement the available data regarding complex stomal complications for the future development of new knowledge through two objectives: 1) to determine the incidence of complex stomal complications in new ostomate patients residing in the Empolese-Val d'Elsa and Lower Valdarno area of Italy, 2) to verify what the factors determining the occurrence of these complications are.