Bacterial flora in intraabdominal ileostomy reservoir. A study of 23 patients provided with "continent ileostomy".

The microbial flora of ileostomy effluent, of contents from intraabdominal ileostomy reservoirs and of feces were compared. Great differences in the numbers of microorganisms and in the ratios of anaerobes to aerobes were found in the different materials. The bacterial ecology of the ileostomy reservoir seems to hold an intermediate position between the ecology of effluent from conventional ileostomy and that of normal feces.