A stoma can be a serious limiting factor in the quality of life of people forced to live with it. Knowing the demographic and clinical characteristics of people assisted by ostomate care programs is essential for the establishment of protocols which focus on improving the care provided. This is a descriptive study and its purpose was to characterize the ostomates who live in any city in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, and were treated in the local Ostomate Care Program Center between 1994 and 2006. The sample consisted of 12 colostomized patients, with an initial diagnosis of, in order of occurrence, rectal cancer, rectovesical fistula and pelvic cancer affecting the intestinal loop. Complications in the stoma or in the skin around it were observed in 66.1% of the sample, of which 58.3% had been ostomized for two years or more. Patients reported changes in physical and emotional aspects after the stoma, which interferes with their quality of life. It has been proven, however, that for most of them, the Program is considered only as a center where they get their devices. They do not know the role of the multidisciplinary team in the early recovery and rehabilitation.
Colostomy; Quality of life; Rehabilitation
