Your digestive system, also known as the gastrointestinal system, is part of your body that absorbs and digests food, as well as eliminating the body’s waste. Anything you eat or drink is chewed in your mouth before travelling down your oesophagus into your stomach where the food is further broken down by gastric juices.

This will then be pushed along your digestive system into the small bowel, where the digestion and absorption process continues and your body obtains the necessary nutrients it needs.

The waste from this process along with any fluid moves into the large bowel. This is then absorbed, turning the waste material into a solid stool. The solid stool is then stored within your rectum and then excreted via the anus when appropriate.

There are many reasons why you may need a stoma.

Some of the common reasons include:

• Bowel cancer
• Bladder cancer
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Crohn’s Disease
• Ulcerative Colitis
• Diverticulitis
• An obstruction to the bladder or bowel

There are generally three main types of stomas, which are related to the digestive and urinary system.

Please see below the three types of stoma which can be formed:

Colostomy: from the large bowel

Ileostomy: from the small bowel   

Urostomy: urinary stoma

During your stoma operation a small opening on the surface of the abdomen will be formed, in order to divert the flow of faeces or urine from the bowel or bladder.

This waste is then collected instead in your stoma bag. An ostomy bag will then fit securely around your abdomen using an attached or detachable flange extender.  

The type of stoma bag you are wearing will depend on the type of stoma which has been formed.

Please see below the types of stoma bags which are used for each stoma type:

• Colostomy – Closed or Drainable Stoma Bag
• Ileostomy – Drainable Stoma Bag
• Urostomy – Urostomy Bag