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Among those patients who have undergone radical cystoprostatectomy in the Department of Urology at the Municipal Hospital of Kassel (FRG) since 1985, 57 received a continent ileal bladder anastomosed to the membranous urethra. In a retrospective study intra- and postoperative complications, late complications and prognosis of the tumor disease of these patients were compared with those who had an ileum conduit from 1983 to 1988 (n = 44). The intra- and postoperative complications were nearly identical. During the further postoperative course, patients with a continent ileal bladder may present with strictures at the anastomosis of the ileal bladder and urethra, incomplete voiding with residual urine, secretion of water by the mucosa, and metabolic disturbances because of absorption of substances usually eliminated with the urine. The latter decreases with time as the glandular epithelium of the ileal mucosa changes into mucigenous cells with villous atrophy. The danger of local tumor recurrence and metastasis is the same in patients with an ileal bladder and an ileal conduit.