Overview
Cystectomy (sis-TEK-tuh-me) is a surgery to remove the urinary bladder.
Removing the whole bladder is called a radical cystectomy. This most often includes removal of the prostate and seminal vesicles or the uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes and part of the vagina.
After removing the bladder, a surgeon also needs to make a new way for the body to store urine and for urine to leave the body. This is called urinary diversion. A surgeon talks about the choices for urinary diversion that may be right for you.
A radical cystectomy treats cancer that has grown into muscle tissue of the bladder or a bladder cancer that comes back. A partial cystectomy, although rarely done, removes a cancerous tumor in one part of the bladder. Removing only the bladder, called a simple cystectomy, may treat conditions that aren’t cancer, called benign.
Why it’s done
You may need bladder removal surgery, also called cystectomy, to treat:
- Cancer that begins in or spreads to the bladder.
- Issues with the urinary system present at birth.
- Conditions of the nervous system, called neurological conditions, or inflammatory conditions that affect the urinary system.
- Complications from treatments for other cancers, such as radiation, that cause issues with the bladder.
The type of cystectomy and new storage that you have depends on many things. These include the reason for surgery, your overall health, what you want and your care needs.
