Enterostomy Side Effects and Warnings

Possible Complications

Complications are rare, but no procedure is completely free of risk. If you are planning to have enterostomy, your doctor will review a list of possible complications, which may include:

• Bleeding
• Blood clots
• Infection
• Skin irritation around the stoma from leaking digestive fluids
• Diarrhea
• Intestinal obstruction
• Hernia at surgical site
• Blockage or leakage of the tube, requiring replacement
• Adverse reaction to the anesthesia

Some factors that may increase the risk of complications include:

• Bleeding or clotting disorders
• Active infection
• Lung or heart disease

Be sure to discuss these risks with your doctor before the procedure.

Call Your Doctor

After you leave the hospital, contact your doctor if any of the following occurs:

• Redness, swelling, increasing pain, excessive bleeding, or any discharge from the stoma site
• Pus or yellow/green discharge from the incision
• Nausea and/or vomiting that you cannot control with the medicines you were given after surgery, or which persist for more than two days after discharge from the hospital
• Signs of infection, including fever and chills
• Severe abdominal pain
• Cough, shortness of breath, or chest pain
• Pain and/or swelling in your feet, calves, or legs
• Pain, burning, urgency, frequency of urination, or persistent bleeding in the urine
• Blood in your stool, or black, tarry stools
• Diarrhea
• If you had a feeding tube placed, food cannot pass through the tube
• The tube comes out or leaks
• If you had an ostomy bag placed, and there is no stool collecting in the bag.

In case of an emergency, CALL 911.