How many hours does bladder removal surgery take?

Muscle invasive bladder cancer is most definitively treated with a combination of systemic therapy followed by surgery to remove the bladder with a urinary diversion. Research is currently being conducted to determine who might benefit the most from chemotherapy or immunotherapy prior to surgery or if surgery should be performed without systemic therapy.

Bladder removal is a major surgery. This surgery can take anywhere between four and six hours, depending upon your prior surgical history, or maybe other intra-operative findings that we find during the operation.