One-piece closed bags for colostomies: late-stage assessment

One-piece closed bags can be used by people with a colostomy to collect the faeces (poo) from their stoma. One-piece closed bags are made up of a baseplate (also known as a flange) that attaches to the skin around the stoma. This is attached to a bag that collects the poo. Baseplates are generally made from hydrocolloids. They are adhesive and come in flat, convex, concave and mouldable variations to suit different stoma and body shapes. Bags can also come in different sizes, colours and have additional features that may be considered innovative.

For this assessment, NICE considered one-piece closed bags available for prescription under the 'colostomy bag' subgroup on the NHS Drug Tariff Part IX. One-piece closed bags designed specifically for babies or young children, two-piece bags and drainable bags were excluded from the assessment. Having flat and non-flat baseplate options was considered essential, and so were not evaluated as potentially innovative features for this assessment. Features identified as potentially innovative for the assessment included:

• baseplate additives

• baseplate shape

• baseplate adhesive

• bag shape

• filters

• bag material

• flushable disposal

• inspection window.