What Is a Double Barrel Ostomy?

The digestive system breaks down food and gets rid of waste, but sometimes it doesn’t work as it should. When this happens, surgeons can do a procedure called an ostomy (OSS-tuh-mee).

In a double barrel ostomy, the surgeon removes the problem areas in the bowel. Then, they bring the two ends of the bowel to openings made in the wall of the belly. They stitch the edges of the bowel to the skin to create two stomas. One stoma (STOE-muh) drains waste and the other drains mucus. A bag may be placed over both stomas to collect the waste and mucus. Or a bag may go over the stoma that drains waste, with gauze covering the other stoma.