Nursing Care of Patients Managed With a Defunctioning Tube Ileostomy: An Exploratory Study.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe nurses' experiences of caring for patients with colorectal cancer who underwent surgery to create a spontaneously closed defunctioning tube ileostomy after low anterior resection.

Design: Exploratory, descriptive study.

Subjects and settings: Data were collected from 6 registered nurses specialized in Wound, Ostomy and Continence Care (WOC nurses). The patient cohort comprised 247 hospitalized patients with histologically confirmed colorectal cancer who underwent low anterior resection of the rectum and creation of a closed defunctioning tube ileostomy. The study setting was the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews and content analysis were used to collect and analyze data. The Wound, Ostomy and Continence Care nurses visited patient participants 1 week after hospital discharge and 1 to 2 times per week until the cannula was removed and the ostomy wound closed. Data were collected over a 6-month span after the surgery from January 2016 to December 2018.

Results: Content analysis identified 7 management strategies unique to caring for patients with a closed defunctioning tube ileostomy. They are: (1) cannula fixation (securement); (2) maintaining inflation of the cannular balloon to prevent fecal flow into the distal bowel, (3) cannular patency, (4) dietary advice for prevention of cannular blockage, (5) selecting an ostomy pouching system, (6) patient education, and (7) care during and following cannula removal (extubation).

Conclusions: We identified 7 areas of nursing care unique to the closed defunctioning tube ileostomy that provide a basis for creating clinical guidelines for patients undergoing this procedure.