Exposure to damaging effluent can produce severe skin breakdown in the area exposed to the drainage; this type of skin damage is characterized by severely denuded skin along the inferior aspect of the stoma and is most common among ileostomy patients and patients with problematic stomas (eg, stomas that are retracted and empty below skin level).
Courtesy of Dorothy B Doughty, MN, RN, CWOCN, FAAN.