Re-operative surgery for intestinal stoma complications

Intestinal stomas remain a vital tool for the surgeon caring for patients with bowel disease. This article reviews stoma complications that may result in re-operative surgery to revise the stoma. It includes a comprehensive review of early- and late-stoma complications as well as an extensive review of the treatment and prevention of parastomal hernia. Surgical techniques, adherence to basic surgical principles, proper preoperative patient counseling, and pre-operative stoma marking, all of which may prevent many of these complications and enable the surgeon to create the perfect stoma, are also reviewed.