What is stoma reversal surgery?

Your doctor may recommend things you can do at home to help improve how well your child's bowel works. You may be told to:

• Change your child's diet. As your child's bowel heals, you may work with a dietitian to know what foods are best.
• Give your child small, frequent meals.
• Have your child drink plenty of fluids.
• Use foods and medicines to make sure that your child has at least one bowel movement a day.
• Keep a food diary. You can use it to track what your child eats and how foods affect your child.
• Have your child do safe physical activities. These may include walking, bike riding, or non-contact sports. Your doctor may recommend others.

Keeping your child's bottom clean and dry can help prevent a rash. The doctor may suggest creams to help with a rash or soreness around the anus. You may also be told to give medicines for constipation or loose stool.

Dealing with a child's bowel problems can be hard. But your care team can help. You can talk with your doctor or nurse about these issues. They can help you find support and learn ways to cope.

During your child's ostomy surgery, the bowel was separated and attached to an opening made in the skin of your child's belly. The opening is called a stoma. In a reversal surgery, your child's bowel is stitched back together. The stoma is also closed.

It's common to have problems with how the bowel works after a stoma reversal. This is because part of the bowel has been removed. You may have symptoms such as loose stool, incontinence, sudden bowel urges, and pain. Other risks include infection in the belly and blockage or scar tissue in the bowel.

You may have the same precautions you had after your ostomy. Your doctor will want you to avoid bending, heavy lifting, and other strenuous activities. Your doctor can tell you when it's okay to return to your activities and routines, such as driving. This may take up to several weeks or months.

Caring for yourself at home

Your doctor may recommend things you can do at home to help improve how your bowel works. You may be told to:

• Change your diet.
• Eat small, frequent meals.
• Drink plenty of fluids.
• Keep a food diary. You can use it to track what you eat and how it affects you.

As your bowel heals, you may work with a dietitian to know what foods are best. Your doctor may recommend walking or doing pelvic floor exercises. They may help improve your bowel function. You also may take medicines for diarrhea or use creams to help with soreness.

Coping with bowel problems

Dealing with bowel problems can be hard. Many people feel embarrassed or frustrated at times. But your care team can help. You can talk with your doctor or other members of your care team about these issues. They can help you seek support and learn ways to cope.

A stoma reversal is done after the original surgery has healed. This most often takes at least 6 to 8 weeks. But in some cases it can take up to 12 months. Your bowel and anal muscles need to be working for the reversal to work well.

The doctor rejoins the ends of the bowel that were separated. The bowel is stitched or stapled back together. The part of the belly where the stoma was is then closed with stitches.

How the stoma reversal is done depends on what type of ostomy surgery you had. One type involves making a large cut (incision). This way takes longer to heal. The other type uses smaller cuts. It doesn't take as long to heal.