Urology Research Articles

Antibiotic prophylaxis in invasive urodynamics, a Delphi consensus of the Italian Society of Urodynamics (SIUD).

Although antibiotic prophylaxis (AB) demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in bacteriuria after invasive urodynamics (UDS), no significant decrease in the incidence of urinary tract infections (UTI) has been confirmed. No absolute recommendations on the use of AB in case of relevant potential risk of UTI have been reported, though some categories of patients at increased infective probability after UDS have been recognized. The aim of this study is to report the experts' consensus on the best practice for the use of AB before UDS in the main categories of patients at potential risk of developing UTI. A systematic literature review was performed on AB before UDS in males and females. A panel of experts from the Italian Society of Urodynamics, Continence, Neuro-Urology, and Pelvic Floor (SIUD) assessed the review data and decided by a modified Delphi method on 16 statements proposed and discussed by the panel. The cut-off percentage for the consensus was a ≥70% of positive responses to the survey. The study was a Delphi consensus with experts' opinions, not a clinical trial involving directly patients. The panel group was composed of 57 experts in functional urology and UDS, mainly urologists, likewise gynaecologists, physiatrists, infectivologists, pediatric urologists, and nurses. A positive consensus was achieved on 9/16 (56.25%) of the statements, especially on the need for performing AB before UD in patients with neurogenic bladder and immunosuppression. Urine analysis and urine culture before UDS are mandatory, and in the event of their positivity, UDS should be postponed. A consensus was reached on avoiding AB in menopausal status, diabetes, age, gender, bladder outlet obstruction, high postvoid residual, chronic catheterization, previous urological surgery, lack of urological abnormalities, pelvic organ prolapse, and negative urine analysis. Antibiotic prophylaxis is not recommended for patients without notable risk factors and with a negative urine test due to the potential morbidities that may result from antibiotic administration. However, AB can be used for risk categories such as neurogenic bladder and immunosuppression. The evaluation of urine analysis and urine culture and postponing UDS in cases of positive tests were considered good practices, as well as performing AB in the neurogenic bladder and immunosuppression.

Comparing Preoperative Screening Tools for Elective Urologic Cancer Surgery: Insights from a Cluster Analysis

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the features and benefits of different geriatric screening tools for enhancing the perioperative care of patients who undergo elective cancer surgery using cluster analysis. Methods: This study was a retrospective, observational analysis of 1,019 consecutive patients who had elective major cancer surgery in the urology department of our hospital from October 2019 to January 2023. Before the surgery, a trained nurse screened the patients using six tools: Eastern Clinical Oncology Group performance status (ECOG-PS), flemish version of the triage risk screening tool (fTRST), geriatric-8 (G8), instrumental activities of daily living, patient health questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2), and simple questionnaire to rapidly diagnose sarcopenia (SARC-F). The study grouped the patients into four clusters based on their scores on these tools and compared their outcomes after the surgery. The outcomes included overall survival, ambulation failure, delirium, and severe complications. The study also examined how each screening tool was associated with the outcomes. Results: Based on their clinical data and screening results, we classified the patients into four groups: Healthy (73%), Depressive (11%), Intermediate (11%), and Unhealthy (5%). The Unhealthy group had the worst outcomes in overall survival (OS), ambulation failure, and delirium, followed by the Intermediate group. In addition, fTRST and SARC-F emerged as significant predictors of OS; ECOG-PS, fTRST, G8, and SARC-F of ambulation failure; ECOG-PS, fTRST, and G8 of delirium; and G8 of severe complications. Conclusion: Various geriatric screening tools were found to have the potential to forecast diverse postoperative outcomes.

Robotic Surgery in Urology

Robotic Surgery in Urology

Postoperative protocols for older adults undergoing emergency surgery: a scoping review.

As the population of older adults expands, it is becoming increasingly crucial to develop perioperative protocols to meet their physiologic, functional, and cognitive demands after emergency surgery. We sought to identify protocols that improve the disposition, length of stay, and overall health outcomes of older adults undergoing emergency intracavitary, noncardiac surgery. Embase, Cochrane, and MEDLINE databases were searched, and results were deduplicated and uploaded to Covidence. We reviewed studies for postoperative interventions that reduced delirium, maintained functional status, and reduced length of stay in older patients undergoing emergency surgery. We included studies involving patients aged 65 years and older undergoing emergency intracavitary, noncardiac surgeries. Abstracts and full texts were reviewed by 2 reviewers. Data were extracted on the postoperative interventions used and the resulting patient outcomes. We included 6 studies, which involved patients undergoing emergency general, urology, and vascular surgery. Interventions included a multidisciplinary approach, early involvement of a geriatrician or hospitalist, targeted geriatric-led ward rounds, unique postoperative order sets, and volunteer-driven activities. Standard care included early removal of lines, early mobility, optimal hydration, and medication review. These interventions were associated with decreased length of stay, decreased postoperative complications, and increased likelihood of disposition to home and previous functional status. Frailty was correlated with worse outcomes. Through multidisciplinary interventions, a successful postoperative protocol for older patients undergoing emergency surgery is helpful for improving patient outcomes. The implications of these findings will help guide our own quality-improvement initiative to improve these outcomes in this patient population at our institution.

Variation in management of lymph node positive prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy within a statewide quality improvement consortium

BackgroundPatients with lymph node positive (pN+) disease found at the time of radical prostatectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer (CaP) are at high risk of disease persistence and progression. Contemporary management trends of pN+ CaP are not well described. Materials and methodsPatients in the Michigan Urologic Surgery Improvement Collaborative (MUSIC) with clinically localized prostate cancer who underwent radical prostatectomy between 2012 and 2023 with cN0/pN+ disease were identified. The primary outcome was to evaluate patient and practice-level factors associated with time to secondary post-RP treatment. Secondary outcomes included practice-level variation in management of pN+ CaP and rates of secondary treatment modality. To assess factors associated with secondary treatment, a Cox proportional hazards model of a 60-day landmark analysis was performed. ResultsWe identified 666 patients with pN+ disease. Overall, 66% underwent secondary treatment within 12 months post-RP. About 19% of patients with detectable post-RP PSA did not receive treatment. Of patients receiving secondary treatment after 60-days post-RP, 34% received androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) alone, 27% received radiation (RT) alone, 36% received combination, and 4% received other systemic therapies. In the multivariable model, pathologic grade group (GG)3 (HR 1.5; 95%CI: 1.05–2.14), GG4-5 (HR 1.65; 95%CI: 1.16–2.34), positive margins (HR 1.46; 95%CI: 1.13–1.88), and detectable postoperative PSA ≥0.1 ng/ml (HR 3.46; 95%CI: 2.61–4.59) were significantly associated with secondary post-RP treatment. There was wide variation in adjusted practice-level 12-month secondary treatment utilization (28%–79%). ConclusionsThe majority pN+ patients receive treatment within 12 months post-RP which was associated with high-risk pathological features and post-RP PSA. Variation in management of pN+ disease highlights the uncertainty regarding the optimal management. Understanding which patients will benefit from secondary treatment, and which type, will be critical to minimize variation in care.

Role of Case-Based Discussion as Workplace-Based Assessment Tool in Urology and General Surgery

OBJECTIVES To determine the effectiveness of case-based discussion in terms of medical record-keeping, clinical reasoning, clinical judgment, and self-reflection in the management of patients. METHODOLOGY A multidisciplinary descriptive study was conducted in the Department of Urology Institute of Kidney Diseases, Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar, and Department of General Surgery, Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar, Pakistan, from January to December 2023. A total number of 20 postgraduate residents, ten from Urology and General Surgery, participated in the study with equal male and female participants. Case-based discussion (CBD) assessments focused on medical record-keeping, clinical Decision-making, clinical judgment, management, follow-up, and reflective writing. The data was collected on structured proforma and was analyzed on SPSS-25. RESULTSThe total number of study participants was 20, and 410 Case-Based Discussion sessions were conducted. This constitutes an average of 4.8 assessments per week. Most encounters were related to medical clinical decisions and management. The case-based discussion showed significant improvement on the Likert scale of the supervisor’s rating, which extended over four quarters on all major parameters of formative assessment (p 0.001). The multimodal regression test showed significant enhancement in learning parameters on case-based discussions. R2=0.172 F ration=25.141 n=410 (p=0.001). There was no significant difference in the gender of residents as well as training specialty of residents of urology and general surgery (p >0.05). CONCLUSION A case-based discussion is an effective tool for formative assessment of Urology and General Surgery postgraduate residents.

Clinical Considerations and Outcomes of Robotic Urologic Surgery in Obese Patients.

Obesity is associated with many significant physiological changes. These considerations are important to surgery, especially in urological procedures. Obese patients often undergo surgical procedures and are at higher risk of complications. This investigation reviews physiological and anaesthesia considerations for obese and morbidly obese patients. In addition, urological surgeries and procedures should be considered for these higher risk patients. Clinical anaesthesiologists must use detailed assessment and, when appropriate, consultation in developing safe anaesthesia plans for these patients. Newer technologies have improved safety related to airway management, advanced airway devices, and regional anaesthesia with ultrasound-guided nerve blocks, which can reduce the need for opioids postoperatively. Recent developments in drug and monitoring technologies have also been developed and can be effective for obese and morbidly obese patients undergoing urological procedures and perioperative surgery, thus improving the likelihood of safety in this higher risk population.

Large renal stone with ureteral stone caused by 15 years of forgotten stent

Introduction: Ureteral stents are commonly placed in urologic surgeries, and are especially indispensable in endourologic surgeries. But if it remains for more than 6 months, the probability of migration and calculus formation of the stent increases substantially. Case description: A 57-year-old female came to the urology outpatient clinic due to left flank pain. She had a history of open left nephrolithotomy 15 years ago and had ureteral stent placed. She also had a history of open vesicolithotomy surgery 4 years ago and was told to have a follow-up surgery for the remaining kidney stone but she didn’t come because of the limited level of local medical services and her pain tolerance. NCCT study showed moderate left hydronephrosis with a high volume renal stone measuring 60x35x20 mm (HU 1.021), two proximal ureteral stones measuring 40x10x10 mm (HU 1.021) and 60x5x5 mm (HU 1.021) with ureteral stent shadow in the center. She had elevated urea nitrogen and creatinine levels, microscopic hematuria, leukocyturia, and positive urine bacteria. The patient underwent percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) with endoscopic combined intra-renal surgery (ECIRS) for stone removal. Postoperative recovery was successful with no residual stones and significant pain relief. Conclusion: The case underscores the need for patient compliance, adequate practitioner counseling, and timely medical attention. The prevention of complications is the best treatment, and multimodal endourologic approaches can safely remove forgotten, encrusted double J stents.

National and International Comparisons of Gynecological Research in Germany Based on a Bibliometric Analysis of Publications.

Recent years have seen a considerable shift from male doctors to female doctors in the field of gynecology. Female doctors are traditionally more involved with planning and maintaining their family. For gynecology, this could be associated with a risk that research activities will decrease, particularly if results are published in scientific journals. In view of this shift, a comparative observational study was carried for 2022 in which 1306 publications were matched to 1786 female and male doctors reported on the websites of the 44 locations of university gynecology departments in Germany. In addition, the volume of publications issued between 2014 and 2022 was compared for Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In Germany, the volume of publications in Gynecology was additionally compared with the publication outputs of the specialties Urology and Trauma Surgery. Since 2014, the increase in the numbers of publications in the field of Gynecology in Germany was lower (225%) than that of the countries with which it was compared (238%/252%/260% for F/UK/USA). When Gynecology was compared with other medical specialties in Germany, the number of publications in Urology were found to have increased at a lower rate (196%) while the number of publications in the field of Trauma Surgery increased by more (286%) than that of Gynecology. At the start of 2023, the percentage of women who were working as doctors at the lowest hierarchical level (junior doctor) was 81%. The publication output per capita of female doctors working at lower levels in the medical hierarchy, i.e., working as junior doctors and senior physicians, was between 40% and 80% lower than that of male doctors working at the same level. However, female directors published as much as male directors did. In the lower hierarchy levels, men were up to 14% more likely to be without an academic title. Predictors for more extensive publication activities by young female and male doctors include the extent and quality of publications by doctors in senior positions, the presence of a comprehensive cancer center or an institute for human genetics at the location where the young doctors were working, and joint publications with foreign authors. For the German Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics, the results suggest a number of approaches to promote young researchers. The support provided to young female doctors is especially important as this should help to retain them as junior researchers over the long term.

Current Perceptions, Practice Patterns, and Barriers to Adoption of Transperineal Prostate Biopsy Under Local Anesthesia

ObjectivesTo assess perceptions, practice patterns, and barriers to adoption of Transperineal prostate biopsy (TPBx) under local anesthesia. MethodsProviders from Michigan Urological Surgery Improvement Collaborative (MUSIC) and Pennsylvania Urologic Regional Collaborative (PURC) were administered an online survey to assess beliefs and educational needs regarding TPBx. Providers were divided into those who performed or did not perform TPBx. The MUSIC and PURC registry were queried to assess TPBx utilization. Descriptive analytics and bivariate analysis determined associations between provider/practice demographics and attitudes. ResultsSince 2019, TPBx adoption has increased more than 2-fold to 7.0% and 16% across MUSIC and PURC practices, respectively. Of 350 urologists invited to participate in a survey, a total of 91 complete responses were obtained with 21 respondents (23%) reported performing TPBx. Participants estimated the learning curve was <10 procedure for TPBx performers and non-performers. No significant association was observed between learning curve and provider age/practice setting. The major perceived benefits of TPBx were decreased risk of sepsis, improved cancer detection rate and antibiotic stewardship. The most commonly cited challenges to implementation included access to equipment and patient experience. Urologists performing TPBx reported learning curve as an additional barrier, while those not performing TPBx reported duration of procedure. ConclusionsAccess to equipment and patient experience concerns remain substantial barriers to adoption of TPBx. Dissemination of techniques utilizing existing equipment and optimization of local anesthetic protocols for TPBx may help facilitate the continued adoption of TPBx.

Assessment of the Quality of YouTube Educational Videos on Laparoscopic Right Adrenalectomy and Laparoscopic Partial Nephrectomy Surgeries.

Introduction: Despite the considerable studies conducted on the quality of YouTube surgical videos as an educational resource in other surgical fields, there have been no such studies in the field of laparoscopic urology so far. Considering the great sensitivity in these procedures and the necessity of identifying the mistakes in these videos, we aimed to evaluate the quality of YouTube educational videos on laparoscopic right adrenalectomy and laparoscopic partial nephrectomy surgeries. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 131 YouTube educational videos on laparoscopic right adrenalectomy and laparoscopic partial nephrectomy surgeries were reviewed. Two researchers familiar with laparoscopic urological surgery reviewed the videos based on the LAP-VEGaS checklist. A third professor reviewed the videos on which there were disagreements. Results: In the majority of the videos, the title was chosen accordingly and the surgeon was introduced appropriately. Furthermore, in most of the videos, patient anonymity was respected. The mean score of the videos was equal to 74.3 ± 5.4, the maximum score being 17 and the minimum 1. The average score of the partial nephrectomy videos was obtained as 98.3 ± 5.74, whereas the average score for adrenalectomy videos was 47.3 ± 4.5. The overall average score of the studied videos was 74.3 ± 5.40. Conclusion: The results of our study suggest that most of YouTube videos on laparoscopic right adrenalectomy and laparoscopic partial nephrectomy surgeries are used for educational purpose. These YouTube videos are suboptimal in educational aspect and students should be advised to use them with caution.

Da Vinci Robotic Surgical System: Early Experience from Pakistan.

To determine the outcomes of robotic surgeries using the Da Vinci robotic surgical system (DVSS) at Pakistan's largest urological tertiary healthcare system. Descriptive study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery, Division of Urology, Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, Karachi, Pakistan, from March 2017 to December 2021. Hospital records of patients who underwent robotic urological surgeries were assessed for their outcomes in terms of blood loss, mortality, system malfunction, and conversion to open surgery. Descriptive statistics were determined. A total of 550 procedures were performed. The mean age recorded was 39.58±16.83 years. The mean blood loss recorded was 255.611±353.57 ml; there were 3 cases of malfunction. Forty cases were converted to open surgery, and the mortality rate was 1.1%. Minimally invasive surgical techniques have high precision, fewer complications, and lower morbidity rates. Using DVSS for surgical interventions is both effective and safe. Minimally invasive surgery, Da Vinci robotic surgical system, Robotic surgery.

A Comprehensive Overview of Intraoperative Complications during Retzius-Sparing Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy: Single Series from High-Volume Center.

Intraoperative complications (ICs) are invariably underreported in urological surgery despite the recent endorsement of new classification systems. We aimed to provide a detailed overview of ICs during Retzius-sparing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RS-RARP). We prospectively collected data from 1891 patients who underwent RS-RARP at a single high-volume European center from January 2010 to December 2022. ICs were collected based on surgery reports and categorized according to the Intraoperative Adverse Incident Classification (EAUiaiC). The quality criteria for accurate and comprehensive reporting of intraoperative adverse events proposed by the Intraoperative Complications Assessment and Reporting with Universal Standards (ICARUS) Global Surgical Collaboration Project were fulfilled. To better classify the role of the RS-RARP approach, ICs were classified into anesthesiologic and surgical ICs. Surgical ICs were further divided according to the timing of the complication in RARP-related ICs and ePNLD-related ICs. Overall, 40 ICs were reported in 40 patients (2.1%). Ten out of thirteen ICARUS criteria were satisfied. According to EAUiaiC grading of ICs, 27 (67.5%), 7 (17.5%), 2 (5%), 2 (5%), and 2 (5%) patients experienced Grade 1, 2, 3, 4A, and 4B, respectively. When we classified the ICs, two cases (5%) were classified as anesthesiologic ICs. Among the 38 surgical ICs, 16 (42%) were ePNLD-related, and 22 (58%) were RARP-related. ICs led to seven (0.37%) post-operative sequelae (four non-permanent and three permanent). Patients who suffered ICs were significantly older (67 years vs. 65 years, p = 0.02) and had a higher median BMI (27.0 vs. 26.1, p = 0.01), but did not differ in terms of comorbidities or tumor characteristics (all p values ≥ 0.05). Intraoperative complications during RS-RARP are relatively infrequent, but should not be underestimated. Patients suffering from ICs are older, have a higher body mass index, a higher rate of intraoperative blood transfusion, and a longer length of stay.

Study of Outcome of Diathermic Incision Cautery more than 5 cms in General and Urologic Surgery Operations

Introduction: Cutting diathermy is a more recent alternative to scalpel for surgical incisions. Its use was limited due to fear of increased risk of infection, impair healing and decrease cosmesis. However, recent studies suggest otherwise, claiming that diathermy may offer potential advantages with respect to blood loss, incision time and post-operative pain. The aim of this study was thus to evaluate the outcome of diathermic incision in terms of healing, post-op pain and scar characteristics in operations with incisions more than 5 cm in size. Materials &amp; Methods: A hospital based observational study included 182 cases scheduled to undergo surgery requiring more than approximately 5 cm of incision. Cases were operated by surgeons who have a minimum of 3 years of experience. Incision time, wound healing, post-op pain and scar characteristics were noted at discharge and follow up at 7th and 30th day. Results: Mean incision time was 24.5 seconds with almost half of the cases (48.9%) had incision time between 20-30 seconds. A significant improvement was observed in all cases regarding mean Southampton wound score and pain score from day of discharge till day 30th of follow up. A significant improvement was also observed in patient and observer scar assessment scale in all the sub categories from day of discharge till day 30th of follow up None of the cases complaint of any surgical site infections or scar related complications. Conclusion: Electrocautery can be considered as effective and safe in making large skin incision. It is associated with less incision time, faster healing, low post-operative pain and good scar characteristics.

The role of pre- and postnatal investigations in suspected isolated hypospadias

IntroductionPrenatal investigations are usually performed to diagnose severe or associated forms of hypospadias. However, the value of this workup and the correlation with the postnatal diagnosis and follow-up have not been studied in the literature. The aims of the study were to describe postnatal outcomes. Material and methodsWe conducted a single-center retrospective study. We included fetuses with a prenatal suspicion of isolated hypospadias (no associated ultrasound abnormality). Postnatal findings were described including neonatal examination with confirmation of the diagnosis or not of hypospadias, the diagnosis of isolated or associated hypospadias, investigations and management. ResultsA total of 21 patients with a suspicion of isolated hypospadias on prenatal ultrasound and available postnatal follow-up were included. The diagnosis of hypospadias was confirmed at neonatal examination for 17/21 (81 %) children. All 17 confirmed cases underwent at least one urological surgical procedure. Postnatally, the diagnosis of hypospadias in 4/17(23.5 %) cases was found to be associated with the following diagnosis: Denys-Drash syndrome, deletion of chromosome9 and duplication of chromosome20 involved in genital development, significant duplication of the short arm of chromosome 16, mosaic karyotypic abnormality [45, X (64 %)/46, XY (36 %)]. The hormonal assessment revealed 3/17(17.6 %) abnormalities: one diagnosis of partial androgen insensitivity syndrome and two cases of gonadal dysgenesis with low AMH and inhibin B. ConclusionPrenatal diagnosis of isolated hypospadias may be associated with postnatal genetic abnormalities. In this context, a prenatal assessment by amniocentesis with chromosomal microarray analysis can be an option after discussion with the woman.

Artificial Urinary Sphincter Complications: A Narrative Review.

Stress urinary incontinence is a financially burdensome and socially isolating problem and can be experienced by men as a result of radical prostatectomy, radiation therapy, or other urologic surgery. Artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) placement for stress urinary incontinence is considered the 'gold standard' for male stress urinary incontinence. While initially only placed by specialized prosthetic surgeons, changes in urologic training have made implantation of the device by general urologists more widespread. Additionally, even though a minority of urologists place the majority of implants, many urologists may find themselves caring for patients with these devices even if they have never placed them themselves. For this reason, it is paramount that the urologic surgeon implanting the device and those caring for patients with prostheses are familiar with the various perioperative and postoperative complications of AUS implantation. This review discusses the most commonly reported complications of AUS implantation as well as those that are rarely described. Knowledge of these potential complications is necessary in order to care for patients with urologic implants.

Automatic and real-time tissue sensing for autonomous intestinal anastomosis using hybrid MLP-DC-CNN classifier-based optical coherence tomography.

Anastomosis is a common and critical part of reconstructive procedures within gastrointestinal, urologic, and gynecologic surgery. The use of autonomous surgical robots such as the smart tissue autonomous robot (STAR) system demonstrates an improved efficiency and consistency of the laparoscopic small bowel anastomosis over the current da Vinci surgical system. However, the STAR workflow requires auxiliary manual monitoring during the suturing procedure to avoid missed or wrong stitches. To eliminate this monitoring task from the operators, we integrated an optical coherence tomography (OCT) fiber sensor with the suture tool and developed an automatic tissue classification algorithm for detecting missed or wrong stitches in real time. The classification results were updated and sent to the control loop of STAR robot in real time. The suture tool was guided to approach the object by a dual-camera system. If the tissue inside the tool jaw was inconsistent with the desired suture pattern, a warning message would be generated. The proposed hybrid multilayer perceptron dual-channel convolutional neural network (MLP-DC-CNN) classification platform can automatically classify eight different abdominal tissue types that require different suture strategies for anastomosis. In MLP, numerous handcrafted features (∼1955) were utilized including optical properties and morphological features of one-dimensional (1D) OCT A-line signals. In DC-CNN, intensity-based features and depth-resolved tissues' attenuation coefficients were fully exploited. A decision fusion technique was applied to leverage the information collected from both classifiers to further increase the accuracy. The algorithm was evaluated on 69,773 testing A-line data. The results showed that our model can classify the 1D OCT signals of small bowels in real time with an accuracy of 90.06%, a precision of 88.34%, and a sensitivity of 87.29%, respectively. The refresh rate of the displayed A-line signals was set as 300 Hz, the maximum sensing depth of the fiber was 3.6 mm, and the running time of the image processing algorithm was ∼1.56 s for 1,024 A-lines. The proposed fully automated tissue sensing model outperformed the single classifier of CNN, MLP, or SVM with optimized architectures, showing the complementarity of different feature sets and network architectures in classifying intestinal OCT A-line signals. It can potentially reduce the manual involvement of robotic laparoscopic surgery, which is a crucial step towards a fully autonomous STAR system.

Prevalence of different types of surgery in Rheumatoid arthritis patients: A study based on registry data of Rheumatologic clinic, Rafsanjan 2022

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease that can affect many organs, and due to its systemic nature, it seems that some types of surgeries are more prevalent in this disease. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of different types of surgery in RA patients. This retrospective study using the RA registry was performed on 639 RA patients in the rheumatology clinic of Rafsanjan, Iran, 2022. All patients fulfilled the ACR/EULAR 2010 classification criteria for RA. Demographic information, clinical parameters, laboratory information, surgical history, and surgery time were collected from the medical records. The sample comprises 555 (86.9%) women and 84 (13.1%) men. The average age was 55.08 ± 12.52, and the mean duration of the disease was 7.32 ± 5.94. There was a history of at least one surgery in 252 (39.4%) patients. The prevalence of gastrointestinal, gynecological, orthopedic, eye, ear, nose, and throat, cardiovascular and urological surgeries was 18%, 16.4%, 9.2%, 8.3%, 3.9%, 0.9% and 0.9%, respectively. There were 69.8% of eye surgeries and 57.6% of orthopedic surgeries after disease diagnosis; other surgeries were more prevalent before the diagnosis. The average age (58.16 ± 11.89 vs. 53.07 ± 12.53, P-value &lt; 0.001) and body mass index (29.65 ± 5.68 vs 28.63 ± 5.56, P-value = 0.025) were higher in participants with surgery than those with no surgery. The most prevalent surgeries were gastrointestinal, gynecological, and orthopedic surgeries, and Cardiovascular and urological surgeries were the least. The mean age and body mass index in patients with surgery were significantly higher than those without surgery. Also, physical activity was significantly lower in the participants with surgery.

Comment on: "A Historical Perspective of the Evolution of Laparoscopic Surgeries in Urology" by Soputro et al.

Dear Editor: I would like to congratulate Dr. Soputro and collaborators for their fine article entitled "A Historical Perspective of the Evolution of Laparoscopic Surgeries" in the Journal of Endourology; Volume 36, Number 10, October 20221 and, in particular, thank them for mentioning us as authors of the first laparoscopic radical cystectomy, performed in 1993. However, it is notable that they fail to cite the first laparoscopic operative procedure in urology, i.e., the laparoscopic varicocelectomy published in 1988 and later in 1990 in the Journal of Endourology.2,3 Especially considering that this soon became the procedure of choice in adolescents4 and for years was the most performed laparoscopic surgery in urology, along with lymphadenectomy, followed by nephrectomy, because, among other things, at that time these were the only techniques in use5 (Fig. 1). In fact, we presented the technique for the first time at a congress in 1986, but we received so much criticism that we were discouraged and did not publish it until 1988. We were told that it had the serious drawback of breaking the peritoneal barrier with the serious risk that this entailed, and that we had in fact been able to convert something easy into something very complicated. Nevertheless, this technique demonstrated that urological surgery, as conceived at the time, could be done in a very different way.

PERIOPERATIVE ANTIBIOTIC PROPHYLAXIS IN UROLOGICAL SURGERY: AN UPDATE SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Background: Perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis (PAP) is provided to avoid local or systemic infections, such as surgical site infections (SSI), urinary tract infections (UTI), or sepsis. However, PAP may not be effective in reducing symptomatic UTI in some procedures, such as extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy and cystoscopy. The aim: This study aims to determine the effectiveness of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis in urological surgery. Methods: By comparing itself to the standards set by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) 2020, this study was able to show that it met all of the requirements. So, the experts were able to make sure that the study was as up-to-date as it was possible to be. For this search approach, publications that came out between 2014 and 2024 were taken into account. Several different online reference sources, like Pubmed, SAGEPUB, and ScienceDirect, were used to do this. It was decided not to take into account review pieces, works that had already been published, or works that were only half done. Results: In the PubMed database, the results of our search brought up 105 articles, whereas the results of our search on SAGEPUB brought up 6 articles, our search on ScienceDirect brought up 129 articles. In the end, we compiled 9 papers, 7 of which came from PubMed, and 2 of which came from ScienceDirect. We included nine research that met the criteria. Conclusion: Perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis (PAP) can lower SSI, UTI, and sepsis incidences in urological surgery. In addition, PAP showed a lower positive blood culture. To minimize side effects and lower the risk of drug-resistant organisms, the use of reasonable PAP is advised.