An ileal conduit urinary diversion is one of various surgical techniques for

urinary diversion Urinary diversion is any one of several surgical procedures to reroute urine flow from its normal pathway. It may be necessary for diseased or defective ureters, bladder or urethra, either temporarily or permanently. Some diversions result in a ...

. It has sometimes been referred to as the Bricker ileal conduit after its inventor, Eugene M. Bricker. It is a form of incontinent

urostomy A urostomy is a surgical procedure that creates a stoma (artificial opening) for the urinary system. A urostomy is made to avail for urinary diversion in cases where drainage of urine through the bladder and urethra is not possible, e.g. after ex ...

, and was developed during the 1940s and is still one of the most used techniques for the diversion of urine after a patient has had their

bladder The urinary bladder, or simply bladder, is a hollow organ in humans and other vertebrates that stores urine from the kidneys before disposal by urination. In humans the bladder is a distensible organ that sits on the pelvic floor. Urine enters ...

removed, due to its low complication rate and high patient satisfaction level. It is usually used in conjunction with radical

cystectomy Cystectomy is a medical term for surgical removal of all or part of the urinary bladder. It may also be rarely used to refer to the removal of a cyst. The most common condition warranting removal of the urinary bladder is bladder cancer. Two mai ...

in order to control invasive bladder cancer. Standard incontinent urostomy

To create an ileal conduit, the

ureter The ureters are tubes made of smooth muscle that propel urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder. In a human adult, the ureters are usually long and around in diameter. The ureter is lined by urothelial cells, a type of transitional epit ...

s are surgically resected from the bladder and a

ureteroenteric anastomosis Urinary diversion is any one of several surgical procedures to reroute urine flow from its normal pathway. It may be necessary for diseased or defective ureters, bladder or urethra, either temporarily or permanently. Some diversions result in a ...

is made in order to drain the urine into a detached section of

ileum The ileum () is the final section of the small intestine in most higher vertebrates, including mammals, reptiles, and birds. In fish, the divisions of the small intestine are not as clear and the terms posterior intestine or distal intestine ma ...

at the distal

small intestine The small intestine or small bowel is an organ in the gastrointestinal tract where most of the absorption of nutrients from food takes place. It lies between the stomach and large intestine, and receives bile and pancreatic juice through the p ...

, though the distal most 25 cm of

terminal ileum The ileum () is the final section of the small intestine in most higher vertebrates, including mammals, reptiles, and birds. In fish, the divisions of the small intestine are not as clear and the terms posterior intestine or distal intestine ma ...

are avoided as this is where

bile salts Bile acids are steroid acids found predominantly in the bile of mammals and other vertebrates. Diverse bile acids are synthesized in the liver. Bile acids are conjugated with taurine or glycine residues to give anions called bile salts. Primary b ...

are reabsorbed. The end of the ileum is then brought out through an opening (a

stoma In botany, a stoma (from Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth", plural "stomata"), also called a stomate (plural "stomates"), is a pore found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exchange. The pore is bor ...

) in the

abdominal wall In anatomy, the abdominal wall represents the boundaries of the abdominal cavity. The abdominal wall is split into the anterolateral and posterior walls. There is a common set of layers covering and forming all the walls: the deepest being the v ...

. The residual small bowel is reanastamosed with the residual terminal ileum, usually seated inferior relative to the anastomosis. The urine is collected through a bag that attaches on the outside of the body over the stoma. The bag is changed every 3 to 5 days, or as directed by a stomal therapist. The risk of infection is actually quite small, but there is a high risk of stomal breakdown if not cared for correctly. Another and very effective use of an ileal conduit is for systemic isolation of a kidney transplant, often due to bladder neuropathy that may pose an unacceptable risk of reflux and thus infection or obstruction, into the transplanted organ. The urostomy is fashioned as previously described and connected by

to the transplant ureter. Urinary tract infections are unfortunately very common because stomas are natural colonisers of bacteria; in transplant patients, antibiotic treatment, often over a long term and more frequent appliance changes are effective but not curative countermeasures. The bag adheres to the skin using a disk made of flexible, adherent materials. Unfortunately, there can be problems with leaking and rashes (

excoriation A skin condition, also known as cutaneous condition, is any medical condition that affects the integumentary system—the organ system that encloses the body and includes skin, nails, and related muscle and glands. The major function of this s ...

), and heavy physical exertion will exacerbate deterioration of the appliance. Sometimes the leakage occurs unexpectedly, and "ostomates" (as they are known) usually carry a spare appliance to deal with unexpected emergencies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ileal Conduit Urinary Diversion Urologic surgery de:Ileum-Conduit

See also

References