Quality of life is impaired in patients with peristomal bulging of a sigmoid colostomy

Objective. Peristomal bulging caused by hernia or prolapse is common in patients with a sigmoidostomy. It is not known whether and to what extent peristomal bulging influences various daily activities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of bulging by using a general and disease-specific health scale (Short Health Scale, SHS) and a stoma-specific quality of life (Stoma-QoL) questionnaire in patients with and without peristomal bulging. Material and methods. Seventy patients with sigmoidostomies were examined to identify peristomal bulging. The mean (SD) age was 71.7 (13.7) years and the patients had had their sigmoidostomies for a mean of 8.1 (7.9) years. Bulging was noticed in 46 patients (66%) while 24 had no bulging. Results. It was found that patients with bulging were at a disadvantage. In the SHS, patients with bulging reported significantly impaired QoL in 3 out of 4 scales regarding symptom load, worry and general sense of wellbeing. Also, in the Stoma-QoL questionnaire there was a significant difference between patients with and those without bulging. Conclusions. QoL evaluated with a general and disease-specific instrument (SHS) was significantly impaired in patients with bulging around a sigmoidostomy. The Stoma-QoL questionnaire showed a small but statistically significant difference between patients with and those without bulging but the clinical significance is uncertain. Further studies are required to evaluate the role of some of the individual items in the Stoma-QoL questionnaire.