During the most commonly performed urostomy surgery, called an ileal conduit, the surgeon takes a six to eight inch piece of the small bowel (the ileum) and makes it into a conduit (or pipeline) for urine. The remainder of the small bowel is reconnected so your bowel will function as it did before surgery. The ureters (tubes that carry urine from each kidney to the bladder) are removed from the bladder and joined to the piece of ileum (small bowel).
An isolated part of the intestine is brought onto the surface of the right-hand side of your abdomen and the other end is sewn up. The ureters are detached from the bladder and reattached to the isolated section of the intestine. Because this section of the intestine is too small to function as a reservoir, and there is no muscle or valve to control urination, you will need a urostomy pouch to collect the urine.
Urostomy surgery is a major operation, so it is normal to feel weak for a while. You may experience pain from the surgery, and medication can be prescribed by the doctor to help you feel more comfortable.
Urine is made by the kidneys and travels through two tubes (ureters) to the bladder. The urine is stored here before passing out of the body through the urethra. If a problem occurs within the bladder, this process may be changed, leading to the bladder being removed from the body and having to find a new system for urine to be passed from the body - this is a when a urostomy is formed.
After surgery, your stoma may be quite swollen to begin with, but will reduce in size over time – usually after six to eight weeks.
