K. Peter Kretschmer, a practicing surgeon in Seattle, dedicates his book "To my father, who shares the fate of all stoma patients." His interest and broad knowledge of stomas and the stoma patient is personal and well demonstrated in this short book. Questions many physicians and patients ask about stomas are answered.
The book opens with a complete historical review of stomas; a brief but excellent section on stomal physiology follows. Changes that occur in the bowel after an ostomy are explained in physiological terms and are geared to the clinician's understanding.
The chapters on the indications for intestinal stomas, as well as the complications that sometimes occur are detailed and clear. Indications for jejunostomies, ileostomies, and colostomies in malignant, inflammatory, and congenital conditions in all age groups are discussed. Kretschmer states his opinions and draws heavily from Brooke and Turnbull, in particular, for when to create a stoma and