Our Department of Urology clinical faculty physicians provide general urologic care, although some physicians specialize. Conditions seen in the General Urology Clinic include:
- Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)
- Bladder cancer
- Bladder Dysfunction and Incontinence
- General diseases of the adult male genitourinary and female urinary tract
- Kidney cancer
- Kidney stones
- Male impotence
- Male infertility
- Microsurgical urology
- Prostate cancer
- Prostatitis
- Spinal Cord Injury Program
- Testicular cancer
- Urology Renal Transplant Program
We also conduct clinical research trials in urologic cancer, incontinence and infertility.
Endourology, Kidney Stone and Lithotriptor Program
This program focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of urinary stones which occur in the kidney, ureter or bladder. Patients are evaluated for metabolic conditions such as overactive parathyroid glands which may cause these stones to form. A full range of surgical therapy is available, including removal of stones by percutaneous methods from the lower ureter via the ureteroscopic approach, and the new extracorporeal shock wave lithotriptor which fragments kidney and ureteral stones by passing energy directly through the body. Patients with multiple medical problems, frequent stone recurrence and complicated urologic problems such as neurogenic bladder, chronic infection or obstruction are particularly good candidates for this program.
Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgery Program
In our Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgery Program, we perform surgeries through "keyhole" incisions or no incision at all. To perform such procedures, we use an instrument called an endoscope -- a narrow telescope through which we insert miniature instruments. When the laparoscopic is operated inside a urinary lumen -- the inner lining of the urinary tract that carries urine -- the procedure is called endourology (literally, practicing urology from the inside). When a potential space in the body such as the abdomen, pelvis, or retroperitoneum is expanded with gas, and the endoscope is placed into the gas-filled space to look at the outer surface of organs, the procedure is called laparoscopy. Some common procedures are a combination of the two techniques. Laparoscopy offers huge benefits to patients in terms of reducing pain and recovery time following major surgery. For example, following laparoscopic removal of a kidney, the need for pain medication, length of hospital stay, and recovery time are reduced by approximately 50% compared to open-surgical kidney removal. The conditions that lend themselves most readily to this technique include:
- extensive or complicated blockages of the ureter
- leakage of urine (incontinence)
- most cancerous and non-cancerous conditions of the kidney
- other pelvic cancers
- prostate cancer
- some bladder conditions where only part of the bladder needs to be removed.