Stoma (medicine)

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In medicine, a stoma (Greek - plr. stomata) is an opening, usually an unnatural or surgically created opening which connects a portion of the body cavity to the outside environment. Surgical procedures in which stomata are created are ended in the suffix '-ostomy' and begun with a prefix denoting the organ or area being operated on.

One well-known form of a stoma is a colostomy, which is a surgically-created opening in the large intestine that allows the removal of feces out of the body, bypassing the rectum, to drain into a bag or other collection device. The historical practice of trepanation was also a type of stoma.