How long may ileostomy lavage take?

• A. May take 1-2 hours
• B. 5-10 minutes
• C. 24 hours
• D. 15-30 minutes

Answer: (A)

Ileostomy lavage sessions can be lengthy because they include more than just the moment of irrigation. A full lavage involves gathering and preparing supplies, connecting the irrigation setup, gently instilling warm saline, and then giving the solution time to travel through the ileostomy and soften or loosen stool so it can evacuate. You may need to wait for the stool to pass, observe how the flow goes, and possibly repeat the instillation or adjust the flow. Because these steps can take time and the patient may experience cramping or need brief rest between cycles, a session can reasonably extend to one to two hours.

Shorter durations like five to ten minutes or fifteen to thirty minutes cover only parts of the process (instillation or a single evacuation) and don’t reflect the full time a lavage session may require. Waiting a full day is not appropriate for a routine lavage.