Ileostomies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Surgical procedures creating an opening by bringing the end of the small intestine through the abdominal wall to divert waste ; the resulting stoma used for eliminating intestinal contents externally ; associated with patients requiring bypass of the colon
2. Operations involving the externalization of the ileum to form a stoma for waste excretion ; an artificial opening functioning as an alternate pathway for fecal elimination ; commonly performed when the colon is removed or bypassed
3. Medical interventions that establish a permanent or temporary outlet by connecting the ileum to the skin surface for waste discharge ; the opening facilitating stool passage when normal bowel function is compromised ; typically used in cases of severe bowel disease or injury

Etymology: Ileostomy is a compound built from two Greek-derived parts. "Ileum" is the last section of the small intestine, a term borrowed into New Latin from Latin "ilia," meaning the flanks or entrails, and "-stomy" comes from Greek "stoma," mouth, the same root that gives us "stoma" itself. Put together, the word literally describes making a new mouth in the ileum. The formation is a modern surgical coinage rather than anything from classical medicine. Surgeons in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were creating artificial openings in the bowel for conditions such as bowel obstruction, and they needed precise names to distinguish the procedure by its location. "Colostomy," opening into the colon, was formed the same way, and "ileostomy" followed the pattern to name openings made in the lower small intestine specifically. The plural "ileostomies" is simply the regular plural of the noun, formed by changing the final "y" to "ies," as with "colostomies."

Synonyms: intestinal stomas