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Metal clip/staple in stoma

robbo87

robbo87

Bit of a weird one this, But when i was changing my appliance yesterday and cleaning, at the edge of my stoma, not actually on the stoma itself but the very edge of the skin if that makes sense, i saw what looked like a tiny peice of metal pretuding out, almost as if it was some sort of clip or staple working its way out. Now i've no idea whats under there but could this be some sort of clip that is working its way out naturally? it isnt painfull at all and i didn't want to pull at it or mess about with it. just a bit concerned about what it could be. Has this happened to anyone else?
 
claudia87

claudia87

Yep, I've got a metal stitch type thing that appeared at the edge of my stoma a couple of months ago! Stoma nurse tugged on it a bit to make sure it wasn't loose but said it was nothing to worry about as long as it wasn't painful or scratching the surfce of the stoma.
 
Terriernut

Terriernut

Moderator
EEEEW!!! :yfaint:

I personally would have it looked at. Claudia...you are brave! I would want it out because I would be afraid it would cause pain later, or a puncture or something.
 
G

gb2012

Yup, exact same thing happened with me. I could see "something" at the base of the stoma and I kept trying to wipe it away and when that didn't work I gave it a scratch with my fingernail and realised it was metal. My stoma nurse said it was one of the surgical staples making its way to the surface and to keep an eye on it. As it happened, a week later it vanished again, maybe because I've been putting on weight I don't know.
 
H

hopeful

This is weird! All three of you are Brits - do British surgeons leave metal behind in the abdomen? Why on earth would there be a surgical staple on anything but skin? It shouldn't be in a stoma!! A stoma would have dissolving sutures to attach it, NOT staples.
 
Terriernut

Terriernut

Moderator
I'm not a brit!!! But live here. And yeah...sometin's wong! (I meant the misspelling!)

They use disolvable stitches in the stoma...they have obviously used the metal elsewhere for something else?
 
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