[A colostomy plug (the Conseal system). Assessment of early postoperative use]

The Conseal plug was evaluated in a four week period among 30 consecutive colostomy patients. The clinical trial, a multicenter study covering 11 Danish Hospitals, was started five to 12 days postoperatively among motivated patients in good physical condition. Twenty patients (67%) completed the trial. Ten patients (33%) gave up because of wound infection, leakage, extrusion of the foam part or fault in the test procedure. At the end of the trial all 20 patients wanted to continue using the plug and 84% were still using the Conseal system six months later. We conclude that the plug is well tolerated among motivated patients less than a week postoperatively and that the Conseal plug is a good alternative to the colostomy bag early in the postoperative course.