Bowel function and quality of life after colostomy in individuals with spinal cord injury

Objective: To evaluate the effect of colostomy on bowel function and quality of life (QoL) in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI).Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study.Setting: Department for Spinal Cord Injuries and Departments of Gastroenterology and Radiology, Rigshospitalet.Participants: Eighteen individuals with SCI and a colostomy performed post injury, 12 males, 6 females, 8 with tetraplegia and 10 with paraplegia. Median age at time of study was 49.9 years, years since lesion was 3–56 years, and time since colostomy was performed 0.5 to 20 years.Interventions: Questionnaires and measurement of gastrointestinal transit time (GITT).Outcome measures: Retrospective data collection from patient records, a questionnaire on bowel management pre and post colostomy, quality of life (QoL) by SF-36, and GITT.Results: Seventy-two percent significantly reduced their use of time on bowel emptying after the colostomy. All but one reported being content with the colostomy. Thirty-nine percent reported o...