TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Closure of Colostomy A1 - Ellison, E. Christopher A1 - Zollinger, Jr., Robert M. A1 - Pawlik, Timothy M. A1 - Vaccaro, Patrick S. A1 - Bitans, Marita A1 - Baker, Anthony S. Y1 - 2022 N1 - T2 - Zollinger’s Atlas of Surgical Operations, 11e AB - In every instance an interlude of at least 12 weeks should be allowed between performance of a colostomy and its closure. This enables the patient's general condition to improve, the site of the colostomy to become walled off, local immunity to the infected contents of the intestine to develop, any infection in the wound to subside, and the wounds from technical procedures carried out on the distal colon to heal. This time may be drastically shortened if the colostomy was performed to decompress or exteriorize a traumatized normal colon. Occasionally, the colostomy partially or completely closes itself after the obstruction has been removed, which permits the fecal current to return to its normal route through the site of the anastomosis. Closure should be delayed until the edema and induration of the bowel about the colostomy opening have subsided and the intestine has resumed a normal appearance. The patency of any anastomosis of the intestine distal to the colostomy should be ensured by contrast material study using fluoroscopy or endoscopy. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/28 UR - accesssurgery.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1187821555 ER -