If you have surgery to remove the bladder (radical cystectomy), you will need another way to collect and store urine. This is known as a urinary diversion. It is a major change, and your treatment team will offer support to help you adjust.
Your surgeon will talk to you about the best type of urinary diversion for you.
These are the different options:
- urostomy – creates a new opening to your urinary system
- neobladder – creates a new bladder from your small bowel
- continent urinary diversion – creates a pouch from your small bowel to hold urine until you are ready to drain it.
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Dr Prassannah Satasivam, Urologist and Robotic Surgeon, Epworth Hospitals and Cabrini Hospitals, VIC; Donna Clifford, Urology Nurse Practitioner, Royal Adelaide Hospital, SA; Marc Diocera, Genitourinary Nurse Consultant, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VIC; Dr Renee Finnigan, Radiation Oncologist, Gold Coast University Hospital, QLD; Lisa Hann, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council SA; Dr Andrew Hirschhorn, Director of Allied Health and MQ Health Academy, MQ Health, Macquarie University, NSW; Anne Marie Lyons, Stomal Therapy Nurse, Concord Hospital and NSW Stoma Limited, NSW; John McDonald, Consumer; Prof Manish Patel, Urological Cancer and Robotic Surgeon, Westmead Hospital, Macquarie University Hospital, and The University of Sydney, NSW; Dr Jason Paterdis, Urological Surgeon, Brisbane Urology Clinic, QLD; Graeme Sissing, Consumer; Prof Martin Stockler, Medical Oncologist, The University of Sydney, Concord Cancer Centre, and Chris O’Brien Lifehouse RPA, NSW.
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