Peristomal skin lesions - identifying patients at risk.

Background and objectives: Diagnosis and therapy of peristomal skin lesions are challenging for the majority of therapists. Established diagnostic tools have not yet been validated. Our objective was to outline the spectrum of and to identify risk factors for skin lesions in ostomy patients. A focus was set on peristomal ulcerations and their differentiation as peristomal pyoderma gangrenosum.

Methods: In a retrospective analysis, frequency and character of peristomal skin lesions in patients presenting at two departments were analysed. Patients suffering from peristomal ulcerations were subjected to a more detailed analysis including application of the PARACELSUS score.

Results: A total of 565 patients with ostomy were analysed; 40.2% (n = 227) presented with peristomal skin lesions. Moisture-associated skin damage (27.9%) was the most common, while ulcerations (21.9%) and eczematous skin alterations (19.1%) were seen with comparable frequency. Peristomal pyoderma gangrenosum was diagnosed in 7.9% of all observed peristomal lesions. Among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (n = 98), peristomal ulcerations were the leading finding (35.7%), and pyoderma gangrenosum was more frequent in these patients (16.3%).

Conclusions: It is necessary to assess and classify peristomal skin lesions. Further studies for the validation of different scores or the development of diagnostic tools are needed.