I ought to point out that in some cases, where there has been problems emptying for a long time, the bladder muscle itself starts to get much weaker. At that stage, a sphicterotomy may not actually work. However, there are benefits in using intermittent catheters.
1. Obviously, emptying the bladder properly reduces infection problems.
2. If the residual urine in the bladder is substantial (mine was about 500ml), then emptying with a catheter gives you 500ml (or whatever you residual is) before any leaks happen. So by timing voiding with the catheter, the protection become redundant.
3. If, like me, the bladder more or less gives up, then I have dropped all protection (apart from a bed pad) and empty four times a day or so. It gets me up at night (05:00hrs today) though I can avoid that by drinking less. My voids can be larger, though, 1.3 litres this morning for example.
I am using
Coloplast's Speedicath Compact Male catheter which is easy to carry around and simple to use. Overall, I reckon I am as well off, if not better, with this arrangement and no protection than having some form or treatment that puts me back to drainage bags and the like.