[Quality of life of patients carrying an urinary diversion]

A urinary diversion is more often needed in the context of total cystectomy for bladder cancer. This pathology and this surgical resection alter the quality of life of patients. This article reviews the consequences of urinary diversions on patients' quality of life and ways to minimize them.

A systematic review of the literature search was performed from the databases Medline (NLM, Pubmed) and Embase, focused on the following keywords: "cystectomy"; "urinary diversion"; "quality of life"; "stoma"; "education". Publications obtained were selected based on methodology, language, date of publication (last 30 years) and relevance. Prospective and retrospective studies, in English or French, review articles; meta-analysis and guidelines were selected and analyzed. This search found 218 articles. After reading titles and abstracts, 30 were included in the text, based on their relevance.

The informed choice of the urinary diversion contributes to its acceptance by the patient and to improve the urinary-related quality of life. The selection criteria must be analyzed and presented to the patient in a multidisciplinary way, involving surgeon, physician, nurse, physiotherapist and stomaterapist. By means of the care networks, the choice of the patient should not be limited by the experience of the surgical and paramedical team. There is no clear evidence about the superiority of a derivation over others regarding the quality of life of patients.

The quality of life of patients carrying an urinary diversion depends less on the type of diversion than on whether the diversion is chosen by the patient himself. Patient information by all stakeholders involved in its communication is therefore essential.