Was just wanting to know the difference between these ileostomies? I had the brook done as a temp. where as my friend has the loop? I thought there were only the end or the loop! Haven't had a chance to talk to my surgeon about it, and was so drugged up and sore when I was in the hospital to ask.

The word "Brooke" only refers to the name of the person who invented this type of ostomy. The Brooke ileostomy is formed by pulling a piece of intestine through a hole in the abdomen and turning it inside out and suturing it to outer skin of the abdominal wall. Imagine a turtleneck or polo neck sweater. It's like that only the turned down bit is sewn to the main body of the jumper so that it can't unfold. What you are seeing when you look at your stoma isn't the outside of your intestine. It's the inside because it has been turned inside out.

An end ileostomy is just that, the end of the ileum. Whereas a loop ileostomy is made by pulling a loop of bowel through the abdominal wall and slicing a slit in it before turning it inside out and suturing it to the abdominal wall. This diagram shows a loop ileostomy:

http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/images/gesu_02_img0118.jpg

Hope this helps to clear up the difference.

Shell