When cancer invades the muscle wall of the bladder it is usually necessary to surgically remove the entire bladder. If the cancer hasn’t spread too far however, it is often possible for doctors to create a new bladder, also called a neobladder, using tissue from your intestines.

How Neobladders Work

Neobladders are positioned inside your body in the same position as your original bladder. The kidneys will filter your system as they always did and deposit urine into your neobladder which will hold the urine until you are able to release it. Most patients are able to learn how to control the release of urine from the neobladder much like they did with a normal bladder.

In some cases however, either the neobladder doesn’t function completely or the patient can’t learn to control urine release and they patient must then insert a catheter multiple times during the day to empty the neobladder.

Not everyone is a candidate for a neobladder reconstruction, for example you must have full kidney and liver function and you cannot have cancer in your urethra. Most patients who are candidates for neobladder reconstruction prefer this approach over having an abdominal stoma (passage) attached to a bag that collects urine.

Stanford Expertise

Stanford has been a center of expertise in neobladder reconstruction for many years, with Dr. Faud Freiha, MD inventing the “Stanford Pouch” and early method of creating a neobladder following bladder removal for cancer.

Today, doctors offer patients the most advanced methods of neobladder reconstruction and the caring staff at the Stanford Cancer Center can help you recover from surgery and teach you to use your new bladder.