Journal Reviews
Medical expulsive therapy for paediatric urolithiasis
Children who have kidney stones are likely to have recurrences. Many initial stones are treated conservatively allowing for spontaneous passage of small stones if possible. Doxazocin or tamsulosin are known to dilate the ureter and allow spontaneous passage of stones...
LUTS among Caucasian-European men who have sex with men: findings from a real-life survey
This study is the first of its kind to report an association between men who have sex with men (MSM) and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Nine hundred and forty-nine consecutive individuals who presented to a uro-andrology clinic for complaints...
HIV-related stone disease – a potential new paradigm?
This paper discusses the management of patients with stone disease and HIV. The chronic nature of HIV infection is due in large part to the effectiveness of anti-retroviral therapies (ART). However, the role of protease inhibitors has been widely discussed...
How often are instruments changed in RALP & RAPN?
This study investigates how often the robotic instruments are exchanged during robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) and robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN). They presently come with a life span of 10 uses but whether all instruments are used fully on 10 different...
Prostatic urethral lift provides good alternative to TURP for men with LUTS
Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) due to prostatic enlargement resulting in bladder outflow obstruction are common. Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) remains the gold standard in operative management, however it is not without its risks. In this multicentre European...
Role of emergency ureteroscopy in the management of ureteric stones
Emergency ureteroscopy for all acute stone patients is not widespread in the UK but this is not the case elsewhere. In Auckland, New Zealand, it is commonly carried out in the emergency setting to reduce pressure on elective lists and...
Day-case monopolar and bipolar transurethral resection of the prostate
The aim of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of performing monopolar (mTURP) and bipolar transurethral resection of prostate (bTURP) as a day-case. This was a prospective two-centre study. One centre performed day-case mTURP (group M) and...
Cystolithotripsy using the holmium laser: evolving uses for the laser lithotrite
This small prospective study examined 20 patients who were undergoing laser cystolithotripsy for bladder stones. Laser lithotripsy was performed using either a 365 or 550µm holmium:YAG laser fibre with a power setting of 1.0J and a frequency of 10Hz. Stone...
SUSPEND suspended MET
This review is on the recent groundbreaking evidence on medical expulsive therapy (MET). MET using alpha adrenergic blockers (like tamsulosin) are in regular clinical practice. Even though it is an off label prescription, it is well accepted and practised world...
Tackling stones in children: is it difficult to crack on?
The incidence of stone disease in the paediatric population has been increasing worldwide, particularly for the adolescent age group (12–17 years of age). In this article the authors discussed the evolutions of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) and ureteroscopy (URS) in children....
Impact of case volume on outcomes of ureteroscopy for ureteral stones
With the ever-increasing focus on patient safety, centralisation of services for major procedures is becoming more common. Using data from the Clinical Research Office of the Endourological Society (CROES) Ureteroscopy Global Study database, a prospective observational multicentre study created to...
CRP to predict the need for surgical intervention in acute renal colic
A previous paper has suggested that C-reactive protein (CRP) is a useful serum marker for determining the likelihood of a patient with renal colic requiring surgical intervention, the cut-off level being >28mg/l (specificity 88.9%, sensitivity 75.8%). This prospective observational study...
