Use and Disuse of Catheterizable Channels as the Primary Method of Emptying the Neuropathic Bladder: A Single Institutional Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: We aimed to assess long-term use of continent catheterizable urinary channels (CCCs) and explore potential risk factors of disuse.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

People undergoing appendicovesicostomy and Monti procedures at our institution were retrospectively reviewed (1991-2023). The main outcome was CCC disuse (not intermittently catheterizing channels as the primary method of bladder emptying). Cox regression was used.

RESULTS

Five hundred sixty-one people (46% male, 57% shunted, 72% spina bifida) met inclusion criteria (244 appendicovesicostomy, 317 Monti; 69% right lower quadrant [RLQ]). Channels were created at a median age of 8 years (median follow-up: 11 years, 78% self-catheterized). Overall, 76 people disused their channels. The most common reasons for disuse were nonmechanical (64%). After disuse, 46% underwent incontinent diversion. After correcting for differential follow-up, 89% of people still used their channels at 10 years and 81% at 20 years. When analyzing all disused channels in patients reaching adulthood on multivariable analysis, channels catheterized by others had 3.78 times the risk of disuse compared with self-catheterized channels (P < .001); RLQ channels were 1.06 times more likely to be disused than umbilical channels (P = .02). For channels disused for nonmechanical reasons, catheterization by others, not attending transition clinic, and RLQ stoma were independently associated with disuse (P ≤ .04). No variables were associated with disuse for mechanical reasons (P ≥ .22).

CONCLUSIONS

Most people with CCCs use them on long-term follow-up. One percent stopped using them annually. People who never self-catheterized, never attended transition clinic, or never had RLQ stomas were at higher risk of channel disuse, particularly because of nonmechanical reasons.