Patient Information

Diagnostic Procedures

Some tests are sometimes needed to help your doctors to reach the correct diagnosis and be able to recommend the most appropriate treatment. Some of these test may include scans (ultrasound Scan/CT scan/MRI scan), blood tests, urine tests, urinary flow tests, urodynamics, or a flexible cystoscopy. Other more specialised tests are sometimes required in certain conditions.

Bladder Outflow Obstruction Surgery

This is commonly due to Benign Prostatic Enlargement. If the patient does not respond to medical therapy, surgery might be required. This is usually done endoscopically with an operation called TURP (Transurethral Resection of Prostate). Novel treatment without resection called Urolift is also available now.

Men’s Health

There are several Men’s health issue which require further evaluation by an Urologist. These include erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, penile disorders, testosterone deficiency, testicular problems and so on. Medical treatment is the first line of treatment in many cases but occasionally surgical intervention might be required. Please visit the British Association of Urological Surgeons page for further information.

Blood in the urine

Seeing blood in your urine (visible haematuria) can cause anxiety. While in many instances there are benign causes, blood in urine can also indicate a serious disorder.

Sometimes, the blood is only detected when the urine is tested (non-visible haematuria). Although this is not an uncommon finding, it also may sometimes be the first indication of a serious disorder. Most patients with blood in the urine will require diagnostic investigations to exclude a serious problem. If a problem is identified, further treatment may be required.

Renal Cancer

Kidney cancer, also called renal cancer, is a condition that occurs when cells in the kidney grow out of control forming a mass or tumour. The most common type of kidney cancer is renal cell carcinoma. Although kidney cancer may present with blood in the urine, flank pain or a palpable lump, more kidney cancer is now being detected incidentally on routine imaging performed for unrelated problems. This is mainly because imaging techniques are being used more frequently.

Although typical kidney cancer treatment may require the removal of the entire kidney, (total or radical) nephrectomy, kidney-sparing surgery is now increasingly used to preserve as much normal kidney as possible, while at the same time achieve effective removal the cancerous part of the kidney. This kidney-sparing surgery, is just as effective but keeps kidney tissue that may be required later in life, requires surgical expertise in both kidney reconstruction and vascular surgery techniques. 

Laparoscopic Renal Surgery

Laparoscopic or “keyhole’ surgery is commonly used to treat kidney cancer of various types. This requires small incisions to introduce a small camera and specialised instruments that are used to remove the kidney (Laparoscopic Nephrectomy) or to remove the kidney and ureter (Laparoscopic nephro-ureterectomy). A relatively small incision is then made in the lower abdomen to extract the kidney. This allows faster recovery

Robotic Partial Nephrectomy

Advanced robotic technology is utilised to allows high precision laparoscopic surgery to be performed to remove the affected part of the kidney while preserving as much of the healthy kidney as possible.

Open Renal Surgery

When kidney tumours are very large, keyhole surgery may not be feasible. In these instances, traditional open surgery is required to perform the operation. This typically  involves an incision below the rib cage to allow access to the kidney and the surrounding structure in the case of a total nephrectomy; or a flank incision in the case of a partial nephrectomy.

Laparoscopic Adrenalectomy

The adrenal gland sits above the kidney on each side. Sometimes the adrenal gland is enlarged and could produce excess hormones which could cause the patient to have symptoms. Patients would normally be under the care of the endocrinologist who might recommend the surgical removal of the adrenal gland. This is usually done through keyhole surgery. If this is not possible, open surgery may be required.

Laparoscopic Retroperitoneal Lymph Node Dissection

Some patients with testis cancer may need to have surgery to remove the lymph nodes at the back of the abdomen (around the large blood vessels known as the aorta and inferior vena cava). There is growing evidence that this approach has similar outcomes to open RPLND but with much shorter hospital stay and faster recovery and return to work. Most patients will only require an overnight stay.