When the bladder is gone: quality of life following different types of urinary diversion

Methods aiming for continence after radical cystectomy for bladder cancer, e.g., continent cutaneous urinary diversion and orthotopic bladder substitution, have become clinically accepted alternatives to ileal conduit diversion in the past decade. The a priori assumption has been that improvement in the postoperative quality of life would be greater following the new methods than after ileal conduit diversion. Studies on the validity of this assumption have been hampered by a lack of consensus on what should be measured and how this should be done: in no two studies have identical test instruments been used. The frequent inclusion of patients with nonmalignant disease has also impeded comparative evaluation of reports. By and large, published studies do not seem to confirm that the new types of urinary tract reconstruction improve the quality of life of bladder cancer patients. Common for all methods are psychosocial and sexual problems.