What is a urostomy?

• A. Urostomy
• B. Nephrostomy
• C. Cystostomy
• D. Ureterosigmoidostomy

Answer: (A)

A urostomy is a urinary diversion that reroutes urine away from a diseased or nonfunctional bladder to an opening (stoma) on the abdomen. Most commonly, a segment of intestine is used to create a conduit from the ureters to the skin, and urine is drained into an external bag. This differs from nephrostomy, which drains urine directly from the kidney through a tube to the outside; it’s not a stoma on the abdomen. It also differs from a cystostomy, where a catheter is placed into the bladder to drain urine, typically through a suprapubic route. A ureterosigmoidostomy connects the ureters to the bowel, allowing urine to exit via the rectum rather than through an abdominal stoma. Urostomy specifically refers to the urinary diversion with a stoma on the abdominal wall for urine drainage, hence it is the correct term.