There are standard guidelines for first transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS) guided biopsy in a patient presenting with elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) or suspicious digital rectal examination (DRE) findings. Patients are generally warned before a TRUS biopsy in respect of a false...
Radiographs of kidneys, ureter and bladder (KUB) have long been used in the follow-up of patients with ureteral stones to reassess stone position and surgical planning. Emergence of computed tomography (CT) as the gold standard for the diagnosis of ureteral...
Nephron sparing surgery has become the standard surgical treatment for small renal masses (<4cm). Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) is shown to be superior to the open approach (OPN) in peri and postoperative morbidity; however, it requires advanced skills and has...
US News & World Report (USNWR) provide rankings on a wide range of topics (education, health, money, travel, cars and law firms). In terms of healthcare, they suggest that their rankings (based on metrics) are a tool that can help...
Antenatal scanning detects urinary tract dilatation in 1-5% of pregnancies. Isolated hydronephrosis (i.e., that not due to secondary dilatation e.g. bladder dysfunction) is known to resolve or improve in most; some patients may, however, require intervention through deterioration of obstruction...
Undescended testes occur in 1-3% of newborns; the prevalence is even higher in premature babies. Traditionally the surgical approach has been inguinal orchidopexy, involving two incisions – inguinal and scrotal. In 1989, Bianchi and Squire proposed single scrotal incision orchidopexy...
Cryptorchidism is associated with a 3 to 10-fold increase in malignancy and the age at which it is undertaken matters; the risk of testicular cancer is doubled in patients undergoing orchidopexy at 13 years of age compared to that treated...
Sarcomatoid differentiation is a rare variant of urothelial carcinoma (UC) seen in 0.6% of cases. Its response to neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) has not been well reported. The authors have done a retrospective analysis of patients undergoing cystectomy between 1995 and...
The optimal duration of follow-up following childhood hypospadias repair (to detect complications) is ill-defined. Several surgeons recommend it to include assessment during puberty. Some may worry that ‘rapid penile growth’, ‘erectile forces’ and ‘sexual activity’ could potentially stress previously successful...
Neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (NLUTD) is heterogeneous because of the multiplicity of underlying causes and mechanisms. In women with NLUTD, stress urinary incontinence may be due to intrinsic sphincter deficiency caused by the neurological disease itself or from sphincter...
Ureteral stents are used to bypass obstructive stones, to dilate the ureter in order to facilitate ureteroscopy (URS), and to maintain patency / low intrarenal pressure following stone surgery. However, there can be morbidity (pain / voiding symptoms). Tasian et...
Preoperative hormonal stimulation has been utilised for >50 years in hypospadias surgery. Surgeons utilise testosterone (T) to increase penile size and glans width to try and improve clinical outcomes. However, a paucity of reliable data supporting its use has limited...