At present, I have one patient under my care who underwent prenatal closure of his spina bifida defect. Only with time, will we be able to determine whether this intervention has been of benefit for him from a urological standpoint....
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...
As urologists, it is important to know our results. In terms of hypospadias surgery, which is commonly undertaken after the age of one year in the UK, long-term follow-up is required to fully acquire this knowledge. Long-term urinary outcomes and...
Pelviureteric junction obstruction (PUJO) is a common cause of paediatric hydronephrosis. Indications for intervention include reduced renal function (<40%), symptoms (urinary tract infection or pain) and increasing dilatation. Although the Anderson-Hynes open pyeloplasty (OP) has long been the gold standard...
The undescended testis (cryptorchidism) is the most common correctable disorder in paediatric urology (1-4.6% of newborns). An important role of the scrotum is to keep the temperature of the testes 2-40C below core body temperature. Here, Shiraishi et al. from...
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...
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...
Around 1-2% of teenagers above the age of 15 years and 2-6% of adults continue to wet the bed. Standard treatment often includes bladder advice, alarm therapy, desmopressin and anticholinergics. Tricyclic antidepressants (imipramine) can also be utilised. Unfortunately, most have...
Ureterocalicostomy was first introduced by Neuwirt (1947) and further described by Jameson et al. (1957) as an alternative procedure for repair of pelviureteric junction (PUJ) obstruction associated with an intrarenal pelvis. Performing ureterocalicostomy for PUJ repair has been suggested in...
The incidence of varicocele in adolescent males is around 15%. Treatment indications include symptoms (pain) and evidence of a smaller testis. Numerous surgical techniques are described but there is a lack of randomised controlled trials (RCT), specifically in adolescents. This...