Indications of colostomy in a tertiary care hospital

Aim: to study the frequency and types of indications of colostomy in tertiary care hospital. study design: prospective,crosssectional study. methods: after taking written consent from the patients or their relatives,this prospective cross sectional study was carried out in the department at surgery,fauji foundation hospital rawalpindi from 1st december 2009 to 30th november 2011. a total of 104 consecutive patients who end up with colostomy due to any reason were included in the study. results: out of 104 patients,it was noted that 52 patients had stoma due to malignancy of large bowel and 2 for melanoma rectum. conclusion: till today,the commonest indication of colostomy is malignancy of large bowel. in order to decrease the percentage of colostomy and its associated morbidity and mortality,more effort should be made to diagnose this type of malignancy at an earlier stage.