Urology, also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary system and the reproductive organs. Organs under the domain of urology include the kidneys, adrenal glands, ureters, urinary bladder, urethra, and the male reproductive organs.
A urethral stricture is a narrowing of the urethra, the tube connected to the bladder that allows the passing of urine. The narrowing reduces the flow of urine and makes it more difficult or even painful to empty the bladder.
Hypospadias is a common variation in fetal development of the penis in which the urethra does not open from its usual location on the head of the penis. It is the second-most common birth defect of the male reproductive system, affecting about one of every 250 males at birth, although when including milder cases, is found in up to 4% of newborn males. Roughly 90% of cases are the less serious distal hypospadias, in which the urethral opening is on or near the head of the penis (glans). The remainder have proximal hypospadias, in which the meatus is all the way back on the shaft of the penis, near or within the scrotum. Shiny tissue that typically forms the urethra instead extends from the meatus to the tip of the glans; this tissue is called the urethral plate.
Chordee is a condition in which the head of the penis curves downward or upward, at the junction of the head and shaft of the penis. The curvature is usually most obvious during erection, but resistance to straightening is often apparent in the flaccid state as well. In many cases but not all, chordee is associated with hypospadias. This is not the same condition as Peyronie's disease, which involves curvature of the shaft of the penis most commonly due to injury during adult life.
Pediatric urology is a surgical subspecialty of medicine dealing with the disorders of children's genitourinary systems. Pediatric urologists provide care for both boys and girls ranging from birth to early adult age. The most common problems are those involving disorders of urination, reproductive organs and testes.
Intersex medical interventions (IMI), sometimes known as intersex genital mutilations (IGM), are surgical, hormonal and other medical interventions performed to modify atypical or ambiguous genitalia and other sex characteristics, primarily for the purposes of making a person's appearance more typical and to reduce the likelihood of future problems. The history of intersex surgery has been characterized by controversy due to reports that surgery can compromise sexual function and sensation, and create lifelong health issues. The medical interventions can be for a variety of reasons, due to the enormous variety of the disorders of sex development. Some disorders, such as salt-wasting disorder, can be life-threatening if left untreated.
The history of intersex surgery is intertwined with the development of the specialities of pediatric surgery, pediatric urology, and pediatric endocrinology, with our increasingly refined understanding of sexual differentiation, with the development of political advocacy groups united by a human qualified analysis, and in the last decade by doubts as to efficacy, and controversy over when and even whether some procedures should be performed.
Urethral meatal stenosis is a narrowing (stenosis) of the opening of the urethra at the external meatus, thus constricting the opening through which urine leaves the body from the urinary bladder.
Bladder exstrophy is a congenital anomaly that exists along the spectrum of the exstrophy-epispadias complex, and most notably involves protrusion of the urinary bladder through a defect in the abdominal wall. Its presentation is variable, often including abnormalities of the bony pelvis, pelvic floor, and genitalia. The underlying embryologic mechanism leading to bladder exstrophy is unknown, though it is thought to be in part due to failed reinforcement of the cloacal membrane by underlying mesoderm. Exstrophy means the inversion of a hollow organ.
The prostatic utricle is a small indentation in the prostatic urethra, at the apex of the urethral crest, on the seminal colliculus (verumontanum), laterally flanked by openings of the ejaculatory ducts. It is also known as the vagina masculina, uterus masculinus or vesicula prostatica.
The primary urethral groove or urethral groove is a temporary linear indentation on the underside of the male penis during embryonic development.
The Mitrofanoff procedure, also known as the Mitrofanoff appendicovesicostomy, is a surgical procedure in which the appendix is used to create a conduit, or channel, between the skin surface and the urinary bladder. The small opening on the skin surface, or the stoma, is typically located either in the navel or nearby the navel on the right lower side of the abdomen. Originally developed by Professor Paul Mitrofanoff in 1980, the procedure represents an alternative to urethral catheterization and is sometimes used by people with urethral damage or by those with severe autonomic dysreflexia. An intermittent catheter, or a catheter that is inserted and then removed after use, is typically passed through the channel every 3–4 hours and the urine is drained into a toilet or a bottle. As the bladder fills, rising pressure compresses the channel against the bladder wall, creating a one-way valve that prevents leakage of urine between catheterizations.
A urethrotomy is an operation which involves incision of the urethra, especially for relief of a stricture. It is most often performed in the outpatient setting, with the patient (usually) being discharged from the hospital or surgery center within six hours from the procedure's inception.
A persistent cloaca is a symptom of a complex anorectal congenital disorder, in which the rectum, vagina, and urinary tract meet and fuse, creating a cloaca, a single common channel.
Urethroplasty is the surgical repair of an injury or defect within the walls of the urethra. Trauma, iatrogenic injury and infections are the most common causes of urethral injury/defect requiring repair. Urethroplasty is regarded as the gold standard treatment for urethral strictures and offers better outcomes in terms of recurrence rates than dilatations and urethrotomies. It is probably the only useful modality of treatment for long and complex strictures though recurrence rates are higher for this difficult treatment group.
A micropenis is an unusually small penis. A common criterion is a dorsal penile length of at least 2.5 standard deviations smaller than the mean human penis size. A micropenis is stretched penile length equal to or less than 1.9 cm in term infants, and 9.3 cm in adults. The condition is usually recognized shortly after birth. The term is most often used medically when the rest of the penis, scrotum, and perineum are without ambiguity, such as hypospadias. A microphallus describes a medical term where other sections of genitallia are different, such as hypospadias or cryptorchidism. Micropenis incidence is about 1.5 in 10,000 male newborns in North America.
Gary J. Alter is an American plastic surgeon. His specialties include sex reassignment surgery, genital reconstruction surgery and facial feminization surgery. He appeared in two episodes of the reality television series, Dr. 90210. PRNewswire reported on June 5, 2015 that Dr. Gary J. Alter performed the body work plastic surgery on Caitlyn Jenner. He has a practice in Beverly Hills, CA.
Dr. Michael A. Palese, is an American urologist specializing in robotic, laparoscopic and endoscopic surgery, with a special emphasis on robotic surgeries relating to kidney cancer and kidney stone disease.
Reed Miller Nesbit was an American urologist, surgeon, and professor. He was Head of the Urology Section of the Department of Surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, from 1930–1967. Nesbit was a pioneer of transurethral resection of the prostate. He devised the Nesbit operation for treating Peyronie's disease, and he made prominent contributions to pediatric urology, most notably the Cabot-Nesbit style orchiopexy.
Penile torsion is a fairly common congenital condition with male infants. It occurs up to about 1 in 80 newborn males. With this condition, the penis appears rotated on its axis, almost always to the left (counterclockwise).
