Objectives: To present the results of a new technique for construction of a sigmoid neobladder after radical cystectomy.
Methods: Forty-two men, 43 to 74 years of age (mean age 62 +/- 8), underwent radical cystectomy for invasive bladder cancer and had a sigmoid neobladder created using a modification of the standard ureterointestinal anastomosis with rotation of the reservoir. The mean follow-up of this retrospective study was 35 +/- 20 months (range 6 to 90). The blood chemistry was analyzed routinely during follow-up, and complications, continence, and voiding pattern were assessed at regular intervals.
Results: There were 21 early complications in 14 patients: persistent urinary leakage in 2; wound infection in 9; prolonged ileus in 4; leakage from the colonic anastomosis in 2; and pulmonary embolus in 2. One patient each had venous thrombus of the lower extremities and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colitis. One patient died in the perioperative period of massive pulmonary embolus, yielding a mortality rate of 2.4%. Eleven late complications occurred in 9 patients. Stenosis of the ureterointestinal anastomosis developed in 2 of 82 anastomoses, stenosis of urethral anastomosis in 4, and neobladder-ureteral reflux in 1. A reservoir stone was found in 1 patient, and adenoma and adenocarcinoma of the reservoir occurred in 1 patient each. One patient developed symptomatic hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis, and routine electrolyte evaluation revealed a slight metabolic acidosis in 6 patients. Hypovitaminosis B(12) did not occur in any patients. Of the 42 patients, 40 could void volitionally without catheterization. Patient satisfaction on continence, by day and night, was 77.3% and 72.7%, respectively. The mean neobladder capacity and the mean residual urine volume was 375 +/- 116 mL (range 234 to 624) and 68 +/- 86 mL (range 4 to 365), respectively.
Conclusions: The modified sigmoid neobladder provides satisfactory results after radical cystectomy.