Ileal conduit

Last revised by Henry Knipe on 9 Sep 2022

An ileal conduit (or "Bricker conduit") was one of the original types of urinary diversions, and it is still in use today.

The conduit is most often placed after cystectomy (or cystoprostatectomy) for muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Although not a continent diversion, it may be preferred if the patient may have trouble self-catheterizing and maintaining a continent urinary diversion.

The conduit is formed from 15-20 cm of distal but not terminal ileum that is isolated from the remainder of the ileum 5. The ureters are anastomosed to the proximal ileal segment and the distal segment is brought to the skin surface either as an end or loop stoma, usually in the right lower quadrant 5. The ileal loop continues to peristalse.

Complications can be divided into early (<30 days post-operative) and late (>30 days post-operative) 5:

Ileal conduits are often imaged with CT urography (CTU) or through retrograde urography (loopogram). Both approaches have their benefits and disadvantages.

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