Urology
Expert guidance on urologic oncology, stone disease, BPH management, incontinence, and minimally invasive surgical approaches.
Recent Discussions
How do you evaluate for an ascending UTI in a patient with a urostomy?
Evaluating for ascending UTI in a patient with a urostomy UA Generally low value; chronic pyuria/mucus makes results unreliable. Urine culture Essential; must be collected from a clean stoma catheterization or a fresh pouch, and not from the urostomy bag. Imaging (CT abdomen and pelvis wit...
How do you manage bladder spasms during pelvic radiotherapy?
My approach would depend on the disease under treatment, specific symptoms, concurrent therapies, and whether or not the patient has a prostate. The first thing I would do, if you have not already done it, is obtain a urine sample to rule out infection. Let's assume that was done and there is no inf...
Do you routinely use hemostatic agents in the renal defect after a partial nephrectomy?
Yes. I routinely employ Surgiflo/Floseal at the base of the defect. After the initial running sutures within the defect, I perform early unclamping and oversew any persistently bleeding arteries. Then I place the renorrhaphy sutures as part of the sliding clip technique, and use Surgiflo/Floseal at ...
Is there any evidence for combining surgery and XRT +/- ADT for treatment of localized high risk prostate cancer?
Presumably, this is a question inquiring about planned post-operative RT. If so, surgery followed by adjuvant, post-operative radiation therapy (PORT) has been profiled extensively in several RCTs: EORTC 22911, SWOG 8794, ARO 96-02, FinnProstataX. The two more recent trials, ARO 96-02 and FinnProsta...
Is there evidence that prostatectomy improves overall survival in local recurrence of prostate cancer post-definitive radiation?
I am not aware of any prospective clinical trial data to suggest that salvage prostatectomy for locally recurrent prostate cancer improves overall survival as compared to any other comparator. Such evidence would be very difficult to generate given that historically, most prospective studies have fo...
What is the longest acceptable interval between radical orchiectomy and adjuvant BEP for Stage IIB/III pure seminoma in the age of COVID-19?
Drs. @Dr. First Last and @Dr. First Last have worked with GCT experts to create practical recommendations during this pandemic. You can read these here. Briefly, these patients should be still be treated with timely curative intent. Treatment decisions will need to be individualized for each patient...
How do you bandage the penis after hypospadias repair, and how long do you leave the dressing in place?
I place a credit card-sized Tegaderm cut to penis length on all my hypospadias repairs. On rare occasions, with a very proximal hypospadias with increased concern for hematoma, I will place a Coban wrap. All dressings stay on for 48 hours, and the family removes them in the bath.
Is there any evidence that ivermectin suppresses the PSA level in prostate cancer?
Is this even the right question, though? ADT drops PSA very reliably and yet does not cure patients. Finasteride suppresses PSA, but we do not use it as a mainstay of cancer treatment. Even if ivermectin *did* suppress PSA, unless there is a meaningful oncologic benefit (*at least* reduced recurrenc...
How does the POSEIDON meta-analysis results influence your decision on which patients should receive hormone therapy with post-operative radiotherapy for recurrent prostate cancer?
POSEIDON is another landmark analysis from the MARCAP consortium. It adds to the seminal work performed in localized prostate cancer (Kishan et al., PMID 35051385), which serves as the reference study for the use and duration of ADT with radiotherapy, but now in the post-prostatectomy setting.The st...
What is your approach for managing patients with recurrent nephrolithiasis who have elevated urinary cystine levels but calcium oxalate stone composition?
This is usually heterozygous cystinuria, and the urine cystine is in the range of 50 mg. Supersaturation with cystine is absent, and the cystine can be ignored. Rarely, urine cystine is high enough to produce stones, and I treat both stone risk factors. In all cases where urine cystine is above 100 ...