Vesicourethral dysfunction following pelvic visceral ablative surgery

Management of vesicourethral dysfunction after a major extirpative pelvic visceral operation could be complex and difficult owing to the variety of partial and complete functional and anatomical derangements produced by the primary operation. We report our experience with 22 patients who suffered various types of vesicourethral dysfunctions after extirpative pelvic visceral surgery, 5 of whom had preoperative studies. The surgical procedures were abdominoperineal resection in 9 patients, proctocolectomy in 3, anterior resection of the rectum in 2 and radical hysterectomy in 8. All 22 patients underwent urodynamic evaluations. The abnormalities noted on the preoperative urodynamic evaluations in patients about to undergo extirpative pelvic visceral surgery suggest the need for routine preoperative assessment of the lower urinary tract for an accurate understanding of the postoperative changes.