Search

How the COVID pandemic has shaped ongoing service delivery at ERIC, The Children’s Bowel & Bladder Charity

- CHARITY FOCUS - Like many organisations and charities, COVID-19 generated a rapid period of adaptation and diversification for ERIC, The Children’s Bowel and Bladder Charity. Their Head of Communications, Alina Lynden, explains what this meant for the organisation and...

Remote working: what can health professionals learn from business?

Remote working has been widely used in business for many years but before COVID-19, this was not the case within healthcare settings. This article seeks to review the advantages, challenges and solutions which users of remote working in business have...

Genital gender affirmation surgery for transgender men

Genital gender affirmation surgery (GAS) is the final step in the transition journey for transgender men. Genital GAS involves a combination of procedures to surgically align physical characteristics with one’s gender identity. These needs change between each individual depending on...

Metabolic screening and stone-prevention in urolithiasis patients

The incidence and prevalence of kidney stones is increasing [1,2]. Significant recurrence rates are noted with 14% of patients experiencing a further episode at one year, 35% at five years, and 52% at 10 years [3]. Over 10% of stone...

The assessment and medical treatment of LUTS secondary to BPH

The term benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) describes prostate enlargement due to non-cancerous processes. Several aetiological mechanisms are involved, including hormonal and vascular alterations; abnormal regulation of apoptosis; and prostatic inflammation, which may stimulate cellular proliferation. With ageing, prostate enlargement can...

Ejaculatory dysfunction: a review of current practice and guidelines

Introduction The ejaculatory process is paramount to procreation in nature. It is a complex orchestration of physiology that results in emission of the ejaculate into the posterior urethra followed by ejection of those fluids from the urethra and orgasm. The...

Lifestyle interventions for UI in women

Lifestyle interventions for urinary incontinence (UI) are supported by all major guidelines. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline (CG171) from September 2013 (updated November 2015) [1] recommends lifestyle advice including dietary modifications such as caffeine reduction,...

Delivering a laparoscopic urology workshop in West Africa: our initial experience in Senegal

Despite universal adoption and significant technological innovation since its inception around 30 years ago, access to laparoscopic surgery remains lacking in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Whilst some progress has been made in recent years to bridge the gap with the developed...

Is laparoscopic urological training in Sub-Saharan Africa a goal worth pursuing? Observations from my experience with IVUmed in Senegal

Laparoscopic surgery has developed at an unimaginable pace over the last three decades. The first laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed by Dr Phillip Mouret in France in 1987, with the first series of 63 cases published in 1989 [1]. However, its...

The role of an enhanced recovery protocol in patients undergoing robotic radical cystectomy

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols are patient pathways designed to reduce surgical stress and accelerate postoperative recovery. Uptake of such protocols in colorectal surgery in particular has been high, however ERAS protocols developed or utilised in urological surgery have...