Purpose: Previous studies have described placement of an artificial urinary
sphincter and simultaneous augmentation cystoplasty with a segment of bowe
l. Conclusions from these studies indicated that infection rates were highe
r and a staged approach should be undertaken. Others have suggested that co
ncurrent urinary reconstruction with stomach and sphincter placement can be
performed safely. Results comparing infection rates of simultaneous sphinc
ter placement and gastrocystoplasty versus staged sphincter placement and a
ugmentation cystoplasty using a segment of ileum or stomach versus sphincte
r placement alone in a pediatric population have not been previously descri
bed to our knowledge. We reviewed these various groups of patients to deter
mine if the difference in infectious complications were clinically and stat
istically significant.
Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of medical records from 1986
to 1999 identified 28 pediatric patients (age 18 years or less) who had und
ergone placement of an AS800 dagger artificial urinary sphincter. Data poin
ts were collected focusing on etiology of the neurogenic bladder, age at ti
me of surgery, types of surgery performed, length of followup and complicat
ion rates.
Results: Complete data were available for 27 of the 28 patients. Neurogenic
bladder was secondary to myelomeningocele in 25 cases, transverse myelitis
in 1 and spinal cord injury in 2. Mean patient age at surgery was 12.7 yea
rs (range 6.1 to 18.2) and mean followup was 4.3 years (range 1 month to 13
years). Simultaneous gastrocystoplasty was performed in 7 cases (group I),
staged sphincter placement followed by augmentation cystoplasty with a seg
ment of ileum or stomach was done in 8 (group 2) and 12 did not require bla
dder augmentation (group 3). Urethral device erosion requiring explantation
was the most common complication, occurring in 3 patients in group 1 and 2
in group 3 (p = 0.101). Mean time to erosion was 22.1 months (range 2 to 4
6.4), Previous surgery (bladder neck or hernia repair) was a common factor
in each group with complications. Urine cultures and culture of the explant
ed device were positive in 2 patients in group 1.
Conclusions: Simultaneous placement of artificial urinary sphincter at the
time of gastrocystoplasty can be performed in carefully selected patients,
although those undergoing staged procedures did well without complications.
Prior bladder neck surgery seems to be a significant risk for infection. A
staged approach to lower urinary tract reconstruction would be more advant
ageous due to the absence of infection and erosion in those undergoing stag
ed sphincter placement and augmentation cystoplasty.