Can you feel defecation with a Koch's pouch?

Answer 1

I have had a Koch's pouch for 34 years. For those who don't know what it is, let me explain. I had ulcerative colitis and had my entire colon removed at 30. That meant that I then defecated through an opening in my side called a stoma. This was accomplished by bringing a piece of the small intestine through the abdominal wall forming an opening that provided an exit for body waste. I then glued a plastic bag on my side to catch the waste. I wore this for 8 years. I had the Koch's pouch procedure in 1974. The surgeon took a portion of the small intestine and made a pouch from it so that fecal material emptied directly from the small intestine into this pouch. In order to make an avenue for emptying the pouch, he then took a small strip of intestine about 6 inches long, reversed it so that theperistaltic spasms that push the food along did not push waste to the outside of the body but rather pushed it back into the pouch. He then sutured the piece to the pouch and the other end became a stoma on the outside of my abdomen. To empty a Koch's pouch, you insert a tube or catheter about 4 to 6 times a day, depending on what you've eaten and evacuate the waste into the toilet stool. The waste can range from mushy to very liquid, depending on what you've eaten. Most people wear a small pad or band aid over the opening because even though the pouch is now continent with no leakage of fecal material or gas, there is still a colorless, odorless liquid (somewhat like saliva) that always lubricates the gut and can dampen your clothes if you don't wear some kind of protection. But this is a small inconvenience compared to a cumbersome pouch.

So the answer to the question is that you can feel when you defecate because you put the tube inside the pouch and you cannot defecate without using the tube. You can feel when the pouch is full because it begins to be uncomfortable. It is, after all, an artificial intestinal blockage made like a balloon; and when the balloon starts to fill up, it pushes on other organs and can become quite painful if you can't get to a bathroom when you need to. It is this pressure that signals that you need to evacuate, but I personally don't feel the waste going into the pouch.

Hope this helps. You can find more information at http://ostomy.50megs.com/ostomies.html#kock