The Biethium bridge--an advance in stoma care.

The majority of currently available colostomy bridges lie on the skin surface. Until their removal around the seventh postoperative day, they frequently prevent the formation of a complete seal between the appliance and the skin, resulting in faecal leakage. This is distressing to the new stoma patient. In contrast, the Biethium bridge is inserted subcutaneously producing a small, flush stoma to which the colostomy bag can easily be applied and therefore faecal leakage is no longer a problem. Our experience with 35 patients is described.