Search

Moving hospitals as a consultant urological surgeon: what are the challenges?

Despite over 100 unfilled consultant urological surgeon posts in the UK, the reasons why an established surgeon should wish to move hospitals can still be viewed with suspicion. Why is this the case, when in many other careers, both within...

Practising surgery in a war zone: an interview with Dr Volodymyr Melnyk

It is now nine months since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine commenced in late February 2022, with Putin announcing a “special military operation” to “denazify and demilitarise” Ukraine. The rest of the world, however, saw it for what it...

Medical statistics for urologists: part 2 – probability and hypothesis testing

Following on from Part 1 of this series (Part 3 available here), this article aims to build on other analytical techniques commonly used within medical research, focusing on simple examples. Probability and testing Before exploring hypothesis testing, it is vital...

Clear cell urothelial carcinoma: a highly aggressive morphological variant in the bladder and upper urinary tract

Clear cell urothelial carcinoma (CCUC) is a rare morphological variant of transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). It can occur anywhere along the urothelial tract and is characterised histologically by high grade carcinoma with an abundance of clear, glycogen-rich cytoplasm [1]. Alternative...

New techniques in UTI diagnosis

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common reason for seeking medical care in both primary and secondary settings. Half of women will have at least one episode of cystitis in their lifetime, and a third of them will have experienced...

Management of urological issues following genital gender affirmation surgery for individuals assigned female at birth

Gender incongruence arises when there is a mismatch between an individual’s gender identity and their sex assigned at birth. Genital gender affirmation surgery (GAS) is the final step of transition for transgender and non-binary individuals who experience gender incongruence. This...

The surgical management of female stress urinary incontinence in a post-mesh era

Trends in surgical management of women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) have changed in recent times, mainly due to the ‘High Vigilance Pause’ placed on the use of mesh for SUI (and prolapse) surgery in July 2018 following an independent...

The PROMIS trial – time for multi-parametric MRI before a first prostate biopsy

Whilst the relatively random process of 12 core transrectal ultrasound guided (TRUS) prostate biopsy remains by far the most widely employed approach to prostate cancer diagnosis in the UK, its flaws as a standalone diagnostic strategy are increasingly apparent. TRUS-biopsy...

The scent of Ethiopia: a personal story – part 1

Background The year was 2004; I had just moved to the UK as a young house officer and finished my observership programme at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. I was inspired by greats like Patrick Duffy and Phillip Ransley,...

What is the role of evidence-based medicine in urology?

The concept of ‘evidence-based medicine’ (EBM) was first developed in the early 1990s and was described as “the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of the current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients” by the recently...

Metastatic spinal cord compression – a review

Introduction Metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC) is an oncological emergency that, unless diagnosed early and treated appropriately, can lead to significant morbidity and mortality, including paralysis and bladder and bowel dysfunction. MSCC can be defined as spinal cord or cauda...