Innovative Techniques

This video of bilateral ureteroscopy in a 16-year-old male with cystinuria highlights several pragmatic strategies for efficient ureteroscopy while minimizing ionizing radiation.

Super-mini percutaneous nephrolithotomy may have some advantages over retrograde intrarenal surgery when treating 1- to 2-cm lower pole renal calculi, according to a comparative study.

Pretreatment for 14 days with tolterodine (Detrol) and Tamsulosin (Flomax) did not appear to relieve ureteral stent symptoms better than tamsulosin alone as measured by the validated Ureteral Stent Symptom Questionnaire, say the authors of a recent study.

Results of a study evaluating health-related quality of life in patients surgically treated for kidney stones suggest a need to rethink the outcome target and focus on patient counseling to set appropriate expectations.

In this interview, Thomas Chi, MD, discusses how he performs PCNL, explains why he uses ultrasound instead of fluoroscopy, and offers advice to urologists looking to gain more experience with the procedure.

Other topics covered in this year's take-home messages for basic science (benign) include interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome and bladder cancer.

These videos demonstrate significant advances in percutaneous nephrolithotomy technique that can serve to optimize outcomes, reduce OR time, and help achieve optimal results.

An elderly male with hypertension, lumbar spinal stenosis, morbid obesity, and ED presents with acute right-sided worsening of his chronic back pain. A distal right ureteral stone is found on CT and his symptoms respond well to medical therapy, but he later develops severe right flank pain.

A 61-year-old female complains of acute-onset right-sided flank and abdominal pain. She describes associated nausea, but denied urinary symptoms, hematuria, fever, or chills.

In these videos, high-volume stone surgeons demonstrate novel approaches to classification, visualization, and treatment of stones.

This article provides an update on the risk factors for stone disease and its presentation in children, and offers practical tips on its evaluation, treatment, and prevention.

Researchers from the Endourology Disease Group for Excellence research consortium compared the techniques in 152 patients at several stone centers.

In this interview, Brian R. Matlaga, MD, MPH, discusses factors to consider in the decision to utilize ureteroscopy versus shock wave lithotripsy, how to counsel patients on the optimal approach, how to minimize the morbidity of each modality, and why younger urologists are more likely to perform ureteroscopy.