Rehabilitation of long-term defunctionalized bladder for renal transplantation.

Some kidney transplant candidates have urinary diversion due to lower urinary tract dysfunction. Careful assessment of the native defunctionalized bladder before kidney transplantation may reveal a usable bladder in a substantial number of these patients. However, most of these bladders need some kind of rehabilitation. An assessment of the continence mechanism is also crucial. We report on successful kidney transplantation into a native bladder, defunctionalized for 9 years, after it had been carefully evaluated and rehabilitated.