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About Urostomies
A urostomy is an opening (stoma) on your abdomen (belly) that redirects urine pee) outside your body using a section of your intestine. Some urostomies drain on their own (incontinent) and others must be emptied using a catheter (continent).
Why would I need a urostomy?
You might need a urostomy if your bladder has been removed or is damaged and not working correctly. There are 4 main reasons you might need a urostomy:
- Bladder cancer
- Damage to the nerves that control the bladder (called neurogenic bladder disease)
- Birth defects
- Chronic inflammation of the bladder
If there’s cancer in the bladder, part of the treatment may be to remove all or part of the bladder and detour the urine through a urostomy.
If you have cervical, uterine, prostate, or rectal cancer, you might need a urostomy if your bladder or urethra are damaged by your cancer or cancer treatment.
What will my urostomy look like?
Your urostomy stoma is often placed on the lower right side of your abdomen. Your stoma is the end of the part of your small intestine that has been used to create the pathway to pass your urine.
The stoma will look pink to red and will be moist and shiny. The shape will be round to oval, and it will shrink over time after surgery. Your stoma will most likely stick out a little to help keep urine from getting on your skin.
Most urostomies have no valve or shut-off muscle to control when urine drains out of your stoma. This means you will always need to wear a pouch over your stoma
Other types of urostomies need to be drained by you inserting a catheter into your stoma. Talk with your surgeon to find out the best type of urostomy for you.
More about urostomies
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Developed by the American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team with medical review and contribution by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
Last Revised: July 1, 2025
American Cancer Society medical information is copyrighted material. For reprint requests, please see our Content Usage Policy.
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