Background: The importance of pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) as a cause of ulceration around abdominal stomas is not well recognized.
Objective: Our purpose was to describe the incidence, clinical and histologic features, disease associations, and possible risk factors for parastomal PG.
Methods: A clinic, run by a dermatologist and two stoma nurses, was created. Five hundred patients approached by postal questionnaire were invited to attend if they had skin problems. In addition, local surgical, dermatologic, and nursing services were invited to refer patients with parastomal skin problems. Cases of parastomal PG were identified, investigated, and treated.
Results: The annual incidence of parastomal PG in the questionnaire-based cohort of patients was 0.6% (3 patients). An additional 23 patients with the condition were seen. No consistent hematologic, biochemical, immunologic, microbiological or histologic abnormalities were identified. Local skin damage did not appear to be an important trigger for parastomal PG. The condition is recurrent in one third of cases. Topical tacrolimus (0.3% in carmellose sodium paste) has been effective in 4 patients.
Conclusion: Parastomal PG is far more common than previous reports would suggest, and it may be associated with diseases other than inflammatory bowel disease.