Common Issues

Bag Leakage is one of the concerns that patients with stomas have, alongside noise, odour and visibility of appliance. Adapting to life with a stoma depends largely on the health of the peristomal skin. Skin irritation is reduced if the stoma appliance is fitted well and leakages are not occuring on a regular basis. Many people living with a stoma frequently have leakage problems and do not seek clinical support from the specialist nurse.¹ For more information on bag leakage, please speak to your stoma nurse or speak to our me+ support advisors. 

Pancaking occurs when faeces accumulates at the top of the appliance around the stoma and does not fall down into the appliance. This is believed by many stomal therapy nurses to be due to a vacuum in the pouch. This subsequently results in the adherent seal of the appliance being compromised, resulting in leakage. Pancaking is recognised as troublesome within stoma care, leaving many people with ostomies feeling exasperated in trying to deal with this difficult problem. Stomal therapy nurses offer strategies to help alleviate it, but when strategies fail and appliances continue to leak, or require changing owing to risk of leaking, individuals often feel helpless, demoralised and quality of life can be damaged. 

Nearly all closed pouches now have an integrated filter, the position of which varies from being somewhere across the top of the pouch to a third of the way down the pouch. Using a filter cover is another option that people with colostomies are often advised to try as another way of eliminating pancaking. Nearly all of the commercially available appliances are supplied with small bits of sticky material that can be placed over the filter, either intermittently or all the time. This enables the person with the ostomy to control when the filter is effective.² Please seek advice from your stomal therapy nurse if you have any issues with pancaking or speak to a me+ support advisor.

Ballooning occurs when air from the digestive system is trapped in the ostomy bag causing it to inflate. This has been shown to negatively impact user quality of life due to discomfort/sleep problems.³ ​Please seek advice from your stomal therapy nurse or speak to one of our me+ support advisors if you experience ballooning.

Skin health is one of the most common challenges following ostomy surgery, with over 30% of patients exhibiting peristomal skin complications within 90 days of surgery. The barrier adhesive is the foundation needed to maintain healthy skin. Convatec's range of hydrocolloid adhesive technologies are proven to perform and designed to protect the skin around the stoma. 

Skin protection is the most important factor in Convatec’s adhesive and skin barrier technology. Our hydrocolloid adhesives are designed for use in high-moisture environments and have decades of proven product performance.