Regenerative urinary bladder augmentation using small intestinal submucosa: Urodynamic and histopathologic assessment in long-term canine bladder augmentations

Purpose: To evaluate small intestinal submucosa (SIS) as a possible bladder augmentation material. Materials and Methods: Nineteen male dogs underwent 35 to 45% partial cystectomy with immediate augmentation with SIS grafts. All dogs were evaluated pre- and postoperatively with blood chemistries, urine cultures, intravenous urograms, cystograms and cystometrograms. Postoperatively (1 to 15 months), bladders were examined with routine histology and image analysis. Results: All dogs survived their intended survival period without morbidity. All results were normal. Histologically, all 3 layers (mucosa, smooth muscle, serosa) of the normal bladder showed evidence of regeneration. Conclusions: Small intestinal submucosa acts as a scaffold for bladder augmentation through regeneration and could be a potential option for bladder reconstruction.