WHAT IS UROLOGY?

     
 

versaliusOverview

 

Urology has always had its own place within the medical profession. For centuries there has been a distinction between barbers/surgeons, for the cutting part of medicine, and the learned, university-educated, medical doctors, who used herbs and diets. Urologists come forth from the stonecutters, who used to travel around medieval Europe and practiced their skills on fairs, alongside the predecessors of dentists, and cured their, mostly male, patients of their bladder stones.

 

Historical Perspective

 

Urology has always had its own place within the medical profession. For centuries there has been a distinction between barbers/surgeons, for the cutting part of medicine, and the learned, university-educated, medical doctors, who used herbs and diets. Urologists come forth from the stonecutters, who used to travel around medieval Europe and practiced their skills on fairs, alongside the predecessors of dentists, and cured their, mostly male, patients of their bladder stones.


Historically, management of obstruction by the prostate, especially with the aid of a urinary catheter and the cystoscope as a diagnostic tool, helped to establish Urology as a surgical specialty distinct from General Surgery. The management of prostate diseases is still a major part of urologic practice. Urologic practices have included both open surgery (including microsurgery) and endoscopic procedures.

Medical pharmacologic management is also a prominent feature of certain urologic disorders. The Specialty of Urology has continuously adopted new technologies and "minimally invasive surgery" has now become the mainstay of some subspecialty areas, e.g., management of urinary stone disease.


In addition to "General Adult Urology" there are several subspecialized areas in Urology. A Urologist deals with clinical problems relating to most of the subspecialty areas listed previously. Some Urologists choose to concentrate their clinical practice in one or two of the subspecialty areas.


Future Developments

 

The early pioneers could only have dreamed of the prominent role future urologists would play in the development of Imaging, with the advent of computed tomography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging


Surgical techniques such as transrectal ultrasound-guided brachytherapy for prostate cancer, percutaneous renal and laparoscopic surgery, and orthotopic bladder replacement. Treatment methods such as chemotherapy for testicular cancer and assisted reproductive techniques for male infertility.


As we look to the next 50 years, we can only imagine the advancements that will occur in urology, just as our now-standard treatments and research techniques could only have been dreamed of in the late 1920s. The commitment to excellence in patient care, urologic investigation, and education of our students and residents initiated by our predecessors remain guiding principles for the next century.


The future of urology is expansive and exciting, and the possibilities are endless. We look forward to our future achievements, including improved accuracy of imaging with highly specific radioimmuno-imaging, enhanced understanding and therapeutic manipulation of the body's immune system with directed intervention of cellular gene function, and more precise surgical approaches using robotics, to name just a few.


The past advancements in urology have been incredible, but the future holds even more promise.

 

The LUP team are at the cutting edge of their specialilities and have been responsible for a number of ground breaking treatments and techniques.  

 
     

 

 

 

Versalius

   

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These are mages of the male and female genito-urinary systems by Andreas Vesalius (1514 - 1564) who was a 16th-century Dutch/Flemish anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, De humani corporis fabrica  (1543).
He is often referred to as the founder
of modern human anatomy. 

 

mri scan

 

MagneticResonance Imaging (MRI) improves detection of

Higher Risk Prostate Cancer.

 

Testicular Microsurgery

 

Testicular Microsurgery