A suprapubic cystostomy (also known as a vesicostomy) is a surgically-created connection between the urinary bladder and the skin which is used to drain urine from the bladder in individuals with obstruction of normal urinary flow. Urinary flow may be blocked by swelling of the prostate (benign prostatic hypertrophy), traumatic disruption of the urethra, congenital defects of the urinary tract, or by obstructions such as kidney stones passed into the urethra, and cancer. Initially, a thin tube (catheter) is placed through the skin just above the pubic bone into the bladder, often with the assistance of ultrasound imaging. This catheter initially remains in place for up to a month while the tissue around it scars and forms a tract (sinus) between the bladder and the body exterior. After the formation of scar tissue is complete, the catheter is replaced periodically in order to help prevent infections.
References in media
The suprapubic cystostomy (spelled "cystotomy", without the "s") is a specialty of physician Stephen Maturin in Patrick O'Brian's twenty-one volume series on the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic era.
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Last updated on Monday January 28, 2008 at 18:28:55 PST (GMT -0800)
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