Urinary diversion: long-term functional aspects

Abstract

Functional aspects and quality of life (QOL) of patients with a urinary diversion (UD) represent important issues in Urology. Any form of UD has its specific problems. In experienced hands and with regular long-term follow-up, serious complications can be avoided and excellent long-term results can be achieved. Thus, the selection of an appropriate UD is critical to patient's long-term satisfaction. Patients must be fully counseled in all types of UD and should have ready access to all options. There are 3 kinds of factors to be considered in the selection of UD: patient, physician, and general factors. In the pre-operative counseling, it is mandatory to explain all factors that over time may contribute to affect the patient's urinary tract function and QOL, mainly linked to long-term complications of UD. One of the most important requirements for any bladder substitution is that it should not jeopardize the renal function. There are many urological and non-urological potential reasons for deterioration in renal function following UD. Continence results after neobladder (NB) are difficult to compare between series published in the literature because of a lack of consensus of definitions, varied follow-up periods, and different mechanisms of data collection. In up to 22% of patients with NB, significant residual urine volumes were observed. The overall patients' QOL reported in most articles was good, irrespective of the type of UD. QOL of patients with a well functioning NB seems to be significantly better than other forms of diversion. Well-designed randomized prospective trials are warranted to render definitive conclusions.