The word ostomy signifies a type of surgery required when a person has lost the normal function of the bladder or bowel due to birth defects, disease, injury or other disorders. Such operations include colostomy, ileostomy and urostomy. The surgery allows for normal bodily wastes to be expelled through a new surgical opening (stoma) on the abdominal wall. Most persons with ostomies must wear special appliances over the stoma. An ostomate is a person who has had ostomy surgery.
"Related surgeries" are surgeries of the bowel or urinary system that correct birth defects, illness or injury while preserving continence.