Urinary Diversion for Bladder Cancer: Understanding Treatment Options

According to uptodate.com, 30 percent of patients with bladder cancer will need to have the organ surgically removed. They will then need to have urinary diversion surgery.

Definition

• A urinary diversion procedure reconstructs the lower urinary tract. The surgeon must then create a place for the patient's urine to go.

Ureterosigmoidostomy

• Ureterosigmoidostomy, the first widely used surgery for urinary diversion, connects the muscles that project urine to the colon to create a method of continence.

Issues with Ureterosigmoidostomy

• Ureterosigmoidostomy sometimes lead to infections and secondary cancers at the surgery site.

Collection Bags

• According to the National Cancer Institute, another commonly used urinary diversion treatment is surgically creating an opening in the abdomen to allow urine to be collected in a bag outside the body.

Urinary Reservoir

• Urologychannel.com describes the continent urinary reservoir method of urinary diversion as using a piece of the colon to create an internal storage pouch for urine. The patient must empty the pouch using a catheter throughout the day.