[Indications and current results of substitution enteroplasty following radical cystectomy]

Radical cystectomy is the standard treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Today, most patients can undergo substitution enteroplasty following cystectomy. Recto-colic urinary diversions and cutaneous ureterostomy are now uncommon. An ileal conduit (Bricker) may be proposed to patients with urethral involvement, as well as to elderly patients and to women who are at a high risk of severe urine leakage following enteroplasty. Thanks to progress in anesthesia, surgical techniques and intensive care, cystectomy with substitution enteroplasty is now a routine procedure. For localized bladder cancer (pT2N0M0 stage), this intervention is associated with a 10-year survival rate of about 80%. The mean length of stay in the intensive care unit varies between 1 and 7 days, and the mean total hospital stay ranges from 10 to 13 days. Early complications, which occur in less than 30% of cases, are mainly medical; the most common are cardiovascular complications, pulmonary embolism, disorientation and urinary tract and pulmonary infections. Late complications are less common and are mainly surgical; they include uretero-ileal stenoses (-10% of cases), uretero-ileal stenosis (4%), and intestinal obstruction (4%). Urinary and sexual disorders are frequent after radical cystectomy and substitution enteroplasty. Early postoperative incontinence occurs in more than 50% of cases but often responds to physiotherapy. In contrast, most male patients remain impotent. Simple transurethral resection of the prostate with cystectomy may be used instead of radical cystoprostatectomy in order to reduce the risks of incontinence and impotence, but this approach is controversial, as some authors have reported an increased risk of recurrence and metastasis.