Nephrostomy

Urostomy

Your kidneys filter waste and excess fluid from your blood, making urine. The urine then travels from the kidneys to the bladder through tubes called ureters. The bladder stores urine until you have the sensation to void. If your bladder is injured or diseased, you may not be able to urinate in the normal way.

A urinary diversion is a way to release urine from the body when you can’t urinate because the urinary system is damaged or not working. You will need a urinary diversion, for example, if your bladder has been removed to stop the spread of cancer, or if your bladder has nerve damage. Any problem in the bladder that blocks the flow of urine and causes it to accumulate in the ureters and kidneys may result in the need for a urinary diversion.

The most common indications for urinary system diversion are as follows:

• Bladder cancer requiring cystectomy
• Neurogenic bladder conditions that threaten renal function
• Severe radiation injury to the bladder
• Intractable incontinence in females
• Chronic pelvic pain syndromes
  
  

Being diagnosed with a urinary system condition or disease can be a stressful experience. Receiving proper care and learning how to manage urinary elimination without all of the components of the urinary system is not an easy task.  There are multiple types of pouching systems, skin barriers, catheter stabilization devices and dressings that can be used and sometimes a specially trained Ostomy Nurse is needed to help decide what type of products and care will be needed to minimize long-term complications and discomfort. For example, some urinary diversion procedures result in a stoma or an opening in the abdomen or back where a pouch is applied to collect urine as it drains from the body.  Other urinary diversion procedures use a tube that is inserted into the body to bypass the bladder and drain urine from the kidneys or upper part of the urinary system.

Quality Home Health Care Services of Michigan can be there every step of the way, beginning the first day you return home from the hospital with your new urinary appliance(s).  Our nurses have many years of experience working with all types of urinary diversions and will provide step by step guidance to you and your caregivers as you navigate this new, unfamiliar territory.  

Under the guidance of your physician, Quality Home Health Care Services of Michigan will ensure your new device is functioning properly and that you are taught how to manage the device on a day-to-day basis.  In addition to regular post-operative care, you will learn how to balance fluid intake with output, various medical products and where to purchase them, and how to prevent numerous complications pertaining to your new urinary diversion device.

 A specially trained and certified Ostomy Nurse is available to assess your unique situation, as well as recommend the best products to use based on your anatomy, lifestyle, and any complications you have developed. 

Nephrostomy

A nephrostomy is performed whenever a blockage keeps urine from passing from the kidneys, through the ureter, and into the urinary bladder. Without another way for urine to drain, pressure would rise within the urinary system and the kidneys would be damaged.

The most common cause of blockage necessitating a nephrostomy is cancer, especially ovarian cancer and colon cancer. Nephrostomies may also be required to treat pyonephrosis, hydronephrosis and kidney stones

Ileal Conduit or Urostomy

An ileal conduit urinary diversion is one of various surgical techniques for urinary diversion. It has sometimes been referred to as the Bricker ileal conduit after its inventor, Eugene M. Bricker. It is a form of incontinent urostomy,[1] and was developed during the 1940s and is still one of the most used techniques for the diversion of urine after a patient has had their bladder removed, due to its low complication rate and high patient satisfaction level. It is usually used in conjunction with radical cystectomy in order to control invasive bladder cancer.