Meaning & use
enterostomy
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablemedical
A surgical operation that creates an opening in the intestine, usually through the abdominal wall, so waste or food can pass or be fed through it.
Grammar: Countable: one enterostomy, two enterostomies.
Patterns
- an enterostomy for something
- enterostomy in someone
The surgeon performed an enterostomy to relieve the blockage.
After the enterostomy, the patient learned how to care for the opening.
An enterostomy may be temporary while the bowel heals.
Word forms
| plural | enterostomies |
|---|
Common combinations
- perform an enterostomy
- Surgeons perform an enterostomy when the bowel cannot work normally.
- temporary enterostomy
- He had a temporary enterostomy after the injury.
- undergo an enterostomy
- She had to undergo an enterostomy after the infection.
- enterostomy care
- Nurses teach enterostomy care before patients go home.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stoma surgery
- Stoma surgery is the plainer everyday phrase, whereas enterostomy is the formal medical name for the intestinal kind.
- ostomy
- Ostomy is a general term for any surgically made opening, so it is broader than enterostomy, which involves the intestine.
- ileostomy
- Ileostomy is a specific enterostomy made in the ileum, the lower part of the small intestine.
Word family
Commonly confused: enterostomy or enterectomy?
enterostomy vs enterectomy
An enterectomy removes part of the intestine, while an enterostomy creates an opening in it.
Practice
What does an enterostomy create?
Choose one answer.
Enterostomy combines the intestine with an opening. The other options describe different organs or items.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “enterostomy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.