Fistula Below Stoma: Should I Be Concerned?

Hi all new to the forum had my loop ileostomy for 3 yrs now following stage 4 bowel cancer and all that goes with it all good so far, over the 3 yrs I've put on a bit of well needed weight, I have noticed a fistula as opened right below my stoma all though not painful just a little sore it seems quite deep as I can insert the end of my little finger into it. Obviously other people have had this just wondering if there's any reason for concern thanks in advance 

First Check with your WOC nurse. Is their anything coming out of it ?

i am also enjoying life with a fistula for the last 2 1/2 years and like an ostomy each is a little different and changes.

Hi Babsy,

First off, fistulas suck! Just needed to get that out there. If you can get your finger in yours... that's one hell of a fistula!!! The problem with fistulas is that they are openings through your skin that aren't supposed to be there. Meaning you can have bowel contents traveling through a tunnel in your skin, which isn't designed to handle harsh waste products like your bowel can. And that means the inner portion of the fistula can become infected rather easily, which can then spread back into your bowels and cause all kinds of trouble. Fistulas are simply not well understood by the medical community (hmmm... seems I say that a lot about our beloved medical community), but it's true. They never really heal on their own. They can go dormant for long stretches of time, but never disappear. Then if you obstruct or build pressure in your bowels for whatever reason, the fistula acts like a pressure release and reactivates. I'd suggest you talk to your Doc about having that fistula imaged, so you have a 'baseline' to compare to in the future if things change for the worse. Hopefully, they won't, but knowing what you started with compared to what's going on at that time will be really good info for your Docs to assess what's happening. MRIs are really good at fistula mapping, so you might want to discuss with your Doc. You can really get your finger in there??? Wow.

;O)

bob