A ureterosigmoidostomy is a surgical procedure wherein the ureters, which carry urine from the kidneys, are diverted into the sigmoid colon.
[citation needed] Another consequence of this procedure is an increased risk of kidney infections (nephritis) due to bacteria from faeces travelling back up the ureters (reflux).
[citation needed] Patients with ureterosigmoidostomy have a 100 times greater chance of developing carcinoma of the colon after living with the modification for a number of years (an average of 20–30 years after the operation), 24% of patients go on to develop carcinoma of the bowel.
[1] This operation is no longer popular in many countries, with an ileal conduit (where the ureters lead into a loop of small intestine) being preferred.
However, ureterosigmoidostomy is still popular in developing countries, as the maintenance of an ileal conduit or catheter is seen to be more difficult.