A radical cystectomy is a surgical procedure most commonly used to treat bladder cancer. Other conditions that may require radical cytectomy include interstitial cystitis (chronic inflammation of the bladder), endometriosis that has spread to the bladder, damage to the bladder from radiation, severe urinary dysfunction, or excessive bleeding from the bladder. As well as removing the bladder, the surgeon removes the surrounding lymph nodes. In men, the surgeon will also take out the prostate gland. In women, the surgeon removes the tube that takes urine from the bladder to the outside of the body (the urethra). When the bladder is removed, another method of collecting urine is needed. There are several different ways of doing this. The most common is to have a urostomy. This means having a bag outside the body to collect urine.