Definition: A procedure to increase the size and decrease the pressure of a small, scarred, or overactive bladder by patching it with a segment of the intestine. Often combined with a continent catheterizable stoma (Mitrofanoff).
Procedure Steps:
1. Anesthesia: General anesthesia.
2. Access: Through an abdominal incision.
3. Augmentation: The bladder is cut open. A segment of intestine (usually colon or small bowel) is cut open, reconfigured, and sewn onto the bladder as a patch.
4. Diversion (Optional): The appendix or a piece of intestine may be used to create a channel from the skin of the belly button or abdomen into the bladder, allowing for easy catheterization.
Purpose / Benefits:
• Purpose: To treat a low-capacity, high-pressure bladder that can cause incontinence, infections, and kidney damage (e.g., from spinal cord injury, birth defects like spina bifida).
• Benefits:
o Protects the kidneys from high pressure.
o Achieves urinary continence.
o The catheterizable stoma allows for easy emptying without a visible bag.
