Impact of stoma revision surgery on quality of life: the STICK I-I retrospective cohort study

Introduction Stoma placement is a frequently performed procedure. Short- and long-term stoma-related complications affect up to 80% of patients and are known to reduce quality of life (QoL). Stoma revision surgery may be indicated, but its influences on QoL has not been studied. Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted across three hospitals between 2019 and 2022. Patients with a colostomy, ileostomy, or certain type of urostomy for at least one year were included. The stoma-QoL score was compared between a stoma revision surgery and a control group using propensity matching. Patients with available stoma-QoL scores before and after revision surgery were separately analyzed as their own controls. Results Out of 643 patients, 336 completed the questionnaire of which 65 were assigned to the revision group, 216 to the control group and 10 to the own control group. Matching resulted in comparable baseline parameters, except for sex. Other baseline characteristics were equally distributed among the groups. The stoma-QoL scores in patients who had undergone stoma revision did not significantly differ from those who did not undergo stoma revision (mean difference 2.61, p = 0.160). Patients in the own control group scored significantly higher on the stoma-QoL after revision surgery compared to before (mean difference 6.90, p = 0.048), indicating improvement. Conclusions Post-operative stoma-QoL scores were similar to controls who did not undergo revision, but were significantly higher as compared to pre-operative stoma-QoL scores.