Comparative study between the use of double J ureteric stents vs bander ureteric stents during robotic-assisted radical cystectomy with intra corporeal ileal conduit urinary diversion

Robotic-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC) is fast becoming the standard of care with comparable oncological outcomes to open surgery for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Ileal conduit is by far the most popular means of urinary diversion following a cystectomy. Use of stents is common practice to reduce uretero-enteric anastomosis-related complications. In the current study, practice was changed from the use of Double J (DJ) stents to bander stent intraoperatively. The potential advantages of using bander stent are avoiding second surgery for stent removal and easier change under local anaesthetic in the interventional radiology department. To compare the incidence of blocked, slipped stents and rate of ureteroileal anastomotic stricture after RARC with intracorporeal ileal conduit between practices of using DJ stents and bander stents. Retrospective analysis of all the patients undergoing Robotic radical cystectomy and intracorporeal ileal conduit between June 2014 and August 2023 was done. Initially, all intracorporeal anastomosis were covered with DJ stents. The practice was changed to cover the anastomosis with bander stent in November 2020. Number of patients needing re-surgery for blocked, slipped stents and ureteroileal anastomotic stricture were analyzed and compared using Chi-square analysis and Fisher’s exact test ( P < 0.05). A total of 168 patients underwent RARC with intracorporeal ileal conduit between June 2014 and August 2023 of which 128 patents were diverted with DJ stents and 40 with bander stent. The mean age and the patient demographics between the two groups were comparable. Of the 128 patients who were diverted with DJ stents, 6 (4.7%) had blocked stents, 3 (2.3%) had slipped stents, and 3 (2.3%) developed ureteroileal stricture needing readmission and urgent invasive intervention to exchange the stent or nephrostomy tube, whereas only 1 (2.5%) of the 40 patients with bander stent had blocked stent which was changed under local anaesthetic in the interventional radiology suite with no slipped stents reported and 2 (5%) had ureteroileal stricture who needed nephrostomies. Intraoperative ureteric stenting using bander stent has the potential to reduce the incidence of stent-related complications, such as blockage, slippage, and ureteroileal anastomotic stricture, following RARC with intracorporeal ileal conduit urinary diversion. Additionally, managing bander stent-related complications is less invasive with lower rate of readmission postoperatively compared to managing DJ stent-related ones.