A neobladder is one of the options for reconstruction of the urinary tract after surgery. Other options include an ileal conduit or a continent cutaneous diversion.
A neobladder is an attempt to replace the normal bladder as closely as possible with other tissues. A long segment of small bowel is isolated during surgery and fashioned into a bladder. It is then attached to the urethra to allow normal voiding after surgery. There is no bag on the abdomen and usually no catheterization is necessary.
Patient says:
I had a radical cystectomy and what my doctor calls a neobladder. They made a new bladder for me out of a piece of my intestines. The new bladder is connected to my ure-thra so that I urinate through my penis. Urinating is different with the new bladder. I need to push the urine out using the muscles in my abdomen. I put myself on a schedule for urinating and find that if I drink alcohol I need to urinate more frequently to stay dry.
If I decrease the amount of fluids I drink in the evening, I can stay dry at night by getting up only once at night. Before the bladder surgery I had to get up twice at night to urinate, so this is not much different.