Technical aspects of abdominal stomas

Continent urinary diversion has gained increasing popularity in the pediatric population during the last few decades. In adults, continent diversions are usually needed to replace a bladder after cystectomy for invasive carcinoma. Subsequently, the creation of functional and cosmetically hidden urinary and cecal abdominal stomas has become an integral part of many urinary reconstructive procedures. These techniques, originally developed for pediatric urinary reconstruction have gained increasing popularity for adult patients in need of a continence procedure. In the current manuscript, we review the technical aspects of site selection, mucocutaneous anastomosis, cosmetic appearance, and management of associated complications.