Journal Reviews
Ureteric injury rates during robot assisted radical prostatectomy
Jhaveri et al. and colleagues have produced a timely report on the incidence of ureteric injuries during robot assisted radical prostatectomy. They reviewed the complications of 6442 consecutive patients treated with robot assisted prostatectomy at the same institution by one...
PDE5I in LUTS – how do they work – no proof yet
Phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors used in erectile dysfunction (ED) have been shown to improve lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) as well. The mechanism is not well understood. One of the hypotheses for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) – LUTS is...
Antibiotics and flexible cystoscopy
This study is from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York, USA. Thousands of flexible cystoscopies are performed every day worldwide. Do they need antibiotic cover? Flexible cystoscopy may cause urinary tract infection (UTI) in less than 10% of cases. Asymptomatic...
Does more equal less in the management of acute renal colic?
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...
Comparison of PCNL under spinal versus general anaesthesia
There are several advantages of performing percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) under spinal anaesthesia including lower cost, reduced adverse effects and less tracheal tube displacement. Another advantage is that the patient remains awake throughout making positioning easier and reducing the risk of...
Is the safety wire during ureteroscopy mandatory?
Traditional principles of ureteroscopic training involve the almost religious passage of a safety guide wire (SGW) into the ureter prior to ureteroscopy (URS). The authors compare the clinical outcomes of URS for ureteral stones in two university hospitals with opposite...
Managing staghorn calculi – a return to the dark ages of stone surgery with the aid of the robot
Khurshid Ghani and colleagues present a novel, yet all too familiar, approach to the management of patients with staghorn calculi, in the form of anatrophic nephrolithotomy - however with the aid of a robot. The aim of this study is...
The role of continuous prophylactic antibiotics following JJ stent insertion
Urinary tract infections (UTI) and stent-related symptoms (SRS) are frequently recognised complications of ureteric stent placement. Antibiotic administration at induction prior to ureteric stent insertion is recommended by the European Association of Urology (EAU). Commencing prophylactic antibiotics for the ‘entire...
Prilocaine irrigation for pain relief after TURP
Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is one of the commonest procedures undertaken by urologists. There are well known complications following the procedure which commonly include haematuria but also TUR syndrome, failure to pass urine and infections, amongst others. The...
A new haemostatic agent in tubeless PCNL
Tubeless percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is increasingly being used in carefully selected patients to reduce hospital stay and analgesia requirements, especially in those with little bleeding who become stone free or have insignificant residual fragments (usually <4mm). Various agents have been...
Is silodosin the new first-line treatment for LUTS secondary to BPH?
This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the safety profile and non-inferiority of silodosin when compared to tamsulosin for the treatment of male lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). As the prostate and bladder neck are abound...
Radiation exposure – what is the optimal imaging modality in the follow-up of patients with urinary tract calculi?
Cumulative radiation dose is an important consideration in the nephrolithiasis patient population. Exposure to ionising radiation is known to be harmful and is associated with an increased risk of malignancy. Understanding radiation doses is necessary to make informed decisions regarding...
