Journal Reviews
BUS for urethral stricture
The earliest description of urethral stricture and its treatment occurred in the sixth century BC in India. A wide variety of factors can lead to stricture disease e.g. iatrogenic, urinary tract infection (UTI), sexually transmitted infections, catheters, trauma to the...
Homo digitalis during COVID-19?
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of our lives. We have seen huge changes in the health service, medical practice and hospital working. Many urology meetings – national and international – were cancelled and seminars and courses have become...
Urinary frequency and COVID-19: is there a missing link?
The current COVID pandemic has been a worldwide challenge for over a year. It can affect an individual in various ways. According to the World Health Organization, the classical signs are dry cough, fever and shortness of breath. In addition,...
Risk stratified approach to early intervention for renal colic
Existing guidance on this topic is based on older and smaller studies, and there remains variation in practice. This review of database outcomes of 1168 out of 3081 (38%) patients who underwent early intervention after presentation to nine Canadian emergency...
Delayed decompression of the infected obstructed kidney increases fatality
Well, we know this, I hear you all say. It is standard practice that the obstructed kidney with associated infection requires prompt decompression, and this is drilled into all UK trainees. It is surprising therefore that although we frequently deal...
Coronaviruses and kidney injury
This is a topical review of the effects of coronaviruses on the kidney and includes a description of the mechanisms of kidney damage by SARS, MERS and COVID-19. The authors quote two previous reports which estimate the incidence of acute...
Urological in-flight medical events
The future of air travel may seem uncertain at the present time, but up until the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 44,000 inflight medical emergencies occurred annually, averaging 1 in 604 flights. Some of you will have heard the heart-sink announcement “if...
COVID-19 and acute kidney injury
Newspapers and online media are full of the effects of the coronavirus on airways and olfactory functions and the importance of respiratory physicians (pulmonologists in the USA), ventilators and intensive care teams. However, as per the Intensive Care National Audit...
Beware of the ambiguous testicular lump
In busy day-to-day practice, we are often faced with puzzling situations. A useful mnemonic is 4-T: torsion, trauma, tumour and tuberculosis (infections). This case review in the BMJ is about a 34-year-old man presenting to A&E with left testicular pain...
Urologists beware!
This article recounts the story of a Californian urologist who was shot dead two decades later by a patient who was diagnosed with stricture of the urethra. The patient underwent surgery for urethral stricture in 1992 by a team (ironically,...
Bladder perforation after augmentation cystoplasty
Delayed bladder perforation is well recognised after augmentation cystoplasty (5-13% of patients) and adult urologists need to be aware of this and identify the best treatment at the time. Mortality rates and re-perforation rates can be up to 25% and...
Electrical injury – all you need to know
The modern operating theatre presents a highly complex and busy environment with a huge variety of machines, devices and gadgets. This article from France will be of interest to urologists, nurses, anaesthetists and theatre managers alike. We all use electrical...
