[Etymology of the neobladder]

The idea of orthotopic bladder substitution (OBS) was born in 1888. Since then, more than 50 surgical procedures with different names have been described in the literature. These historical procedures, as well as almost all modern procedures have lost their original names and have increasingly been referred to the term ileal neobladder (INB). In 1987/88 the era of modern low pressure reservoirs began. The goal of this paper is to present for the first time and before all contemporary witnesses are no longer available the etymology of the word "neobladder". Etymology is the science of the origin and history of words and their meanings. A second goal was the analysis of all terms of surgical techniques reported prior to the neobladder era, which spanned from 1888-2022.

Terms of surgical techniques of OBSs were included in the study if their name appeared in the title of the publication that was referenced in 1 of the 4 representative reviews or meta-analyses of open or robot-assisted radical cystectomy used for our databank.

From 1888-1987 the term INB was unknown. Instead more than 50 terms have been reported in the German, English, French, and Italian literature. In 1985 the term "ileal neobladder" was coined in Ulm by G. Egghart specifically for the W‑INB after he had assisted the first INB and wrote the surgical report. In 2023, nearly all OBS worldwide are "ileal neobladder", a Greek-English hybrid term.

The most likely reason for the use of the Greek-English hybrid term INB instead of OBS is that it is a simpler description of the operation compared to terms like orthotopic reconstruction, and easier to understand for patients and laymen and that it is international.