The continent ileal bladder for urinary tract reconstruction after cystectomy: a survey of 44 patients.

The continent ileal bladder is an ileal pouch that is anastomosed to the urethral stump for urinary diversion after radical cystectomy. The ureters are implanted by an antireflux nipple ureteroileostomy. We report our results in 44 patients who underwent this type of diversion. The perioperative morbidity and mortality were comparable to those of an ileal conduit diversion. Urodynamic evaluation showed the ileal bladder to be a low pressure reservoir with a capacity that increased to more than 300 ml. The ileal bladder was emptied by straining without significant residual urine in all patients. After a training period of a few months all patients were continent in the daytime. However, some patients required pads at night because of occasional loss of urine.