Quality-of-life outcomes and unmet needs between ileal conduit and orthotopic ileal neobladder after radical cystectomy in a Chinese population: a 2-to-1 matched-pair analysis

Health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) is an important consideration after radical cystectomy (RC). Lack of effective ways to assess HRQoL after RC and unawareness of disease-specific problems related to ileal conduit (IC) and orthotopic ileal neobladder (OIN) are serious problems. The present study was to evaluate and compare morbidity and HRQoL between IC and OIN after RC, and examine their unmet needs in the two groups.

A retrospective analysis was made of 294 patients treated with RC in our hospital between 2007 and 2013. Matched pair analysis was used to determine the patients of IC and OIN groups. Patient HRQoL between IC and OIN groups was assessed using the bladder-specific bladder cancer index (BCI) and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Body Image scale (BIS) questionnaires. Unmet information of patients undergoing these two urinary diversions was recorded through individual interviews.

Of the 117 included patients, 39 patients were treated with OIN and the other 78 matched patients with IC as controls for matched pair analysis. There was no significant difference in baseline characteristics between the two groups. OIN patients showed significantly better BIS scores in terms of HRQoL outcomes after RC at a short-term (<1 year) follow-up level, but there was no significant difference at a long-term (>1 year) follow-up level between the two groups. Interestingly, urinary bother (UB) and urinary function (UF) were poor in OIN patients at the one-year follow-up level, but there was no significant difference in UB between the two groups at the long term follow-up level. Unmet needs analysis showed that OIN patients had a more positive attitude towards treatment and participated in physical and social activities more positively, although they may have more urine leakage problems.

The mean BIS score in OIN group patients was significantly better than that in IC group patients at the one-year follow-up level, but there was no significant difference at the long-term follow-up level. Due attention should be paid to some particular unmet needs in individual patients in managing the two UD modalities.