Karl B. Thor

Regenerative Bladder Augmentation: A Review of the Initial Preclinical Studies with Porcine Small Intestinal Submucosa

The gastrointestinal tract has been the mainstay for bladder reconstruction in part due to the poor results with alloplastic materials.1 However, bowel is not the perfect substitute and is associated with infection, intestinal obstruction, mucus production, electrolyte abnormalities and carcinogenic conversion. Therefore, a substance that enlarges the bladder, does not violate the gastrointestinal tract, is non-immunogenic, and promotes bladder regeneration would be a useful alternative in genitourinary reconstruction.