[Substitute bladders]

Abstract

Following prostato-cystectomy in men or total cystectomy in women the bladder can be replaced by constructing an intestinal pouch to be connected to the urethra. This bladder replacement reservoir should possess the specific qualities of the natural bladder: it should collect and retain the urine at low pressure, protect the upper urinary tract against reflux and distension, control voluntary micturition at a socially acceptable rhythm and avoid the metabolic disorders due to the reabsorption of urine by the intestinal mucosa. Low pressure reservoirs are the ones most commonly used. They are obtained by opening the ileal or ileocaecal graft along its antimesenteric border and rearranging the intestinal tissue to form a pouch connected to the urethra. Detubulated reservoirs have a capacity and a compliance that are close to those of the urinary bladder. Daytime continence is acquired in the immediate postoperative period, and night-time continence is possible in 60 to 70 per cent of the patients. These are the main advantages of bladder replacement by tubular small intestine. The reservoirs thus constructed have few contractions, but they have not yet proved to be capable of full evacuation in the long term. Intermittent bladder catheterization might well be the price to be paid in the future for an immediate improvement in night-time continence.