Patients' perceptions of quality of care delivery by urology residents: A nationwide study

OBJECTIVE

To present the results of a nationwide survey among urological patients to evaluate their perception of the quality of care provided by residents.

METHODS

An anonymous survey was distributed to patients who were referred to 22 Italian academic institutions. The survey aimed to investigate the professional figure of the urology resident as perceived by the patient.

RESULTS

A total of 2587 patients were enrolled in this study. In all, 51.6% of patients were able to correctly identify a urology resident; however, almost 40% of respondents discriminated residents from fully trained urologists based exclusively on their young age. Overall, 98.2% patients rated the service provided by the resident as at least sufficient. Urology trainees were considered by more than 50% of the patients interviewed to have good communication skills, expertise and willingness. Overall, patients showed an excellent willingness to be managed by urology residents. The percentage of patients not available for this purpose showed an increasing trend that directly correlated with the difficulty of the procedure. Approximately 5-10% of patients were not willing to be managed by residents for simple procedures such as clinical visits, cystoscopy or sonography, and up to a third of patients were not prepared to undergo any surgical procedure performed by residents during steps in major surgery, even if the residents were adequately tutored.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data showed that patients have a good willingness to be managed by residents during their training, especially for medium- to low-difficulty procedures. Furthermore, the majority of patients interviewed rated the residents' care delivery as sufficient. Urology trainees were considered to have good communication skills, expertise and willingness.

Good urodynamic practice adaptations during the COVID-19 pandemic

Urodynamics testing forms the cornerstone of investigations when it comes to lower urinary tract dysfunction. It has to be done to the highest standards by following the International Continence Society Good Urodynamics Practice protocols. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, certain adaptations to the urodynamics procedure need to be considered especially when it comes to quality control. This article aims to define these adaptations to help urodynamicists in their daily practice.

Laparoscopic Dismembered Repair in Two Patients with Retrocaval Ureter

Retrocaval ureter (RCU) or circumcaval ureter is a rare cause of congenital hydronephrosis. The surgical correction of RCU should be performed in all patients with obstruction and hydronephrosis symptoms, lumbar pain, urinary tract infections, hematuria, or urolithiasis. Traditionally, an open surgical approach was used for the treatment of RCU. Nowadays, surgical correction of these anomalies is performed using minimally invasive techniques. We report on two cases treated with our standardized laparoscopic technique using only three 5-mm trocars. The proposed approach could be considered as the first-line treatment for RCU.

Rotigotine Effects on Bladder Function in Patients with Parkinson's Disease

Background

The objective of this study was to assess the effect of rotigotine treatment on bladder function in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) who have urinary urgency.

Methods

in total, 20 patients with PD underwent urodynamic evaluation and completed International Prostate Symptoms questionnaires in off-rotigotine condition and after 3 months of rotigotine patch monotherapy administration. In both sessions, clinical motor condition was evaluated with the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale, Part III (motor part).

Results

Rotigotine administration significantly ameliorated the first sensation of bladder filling, the neurogenic detrusor overactive contractions threshold and bladder capacity compared with the off-treatment condition. Moreover, the total score on the International Prostate Symptoms questionnaire revealed a decrease of filling (irritative) symptoms after rotigotine treatment compared with the off-treatment condition.

Conclusion

The positive effects of rotigotine may be due to its balanced agonism to D1 and D2 receptors and in particular to its stimulation of D1 receptors in the anterior cingulate cortex and insula, which are known as areas involved in bladder-inhibitory functions.

Conservative Therapy in Two Cases of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma of the Penis: Case Reports With Review of the Literature

The malignant lymphomas rarely occur in the genito-urinary tract and particularly penis lymphomas are extremely uncommon. Frequently they do not have any specific symptoms and the diagnosis is delayed even in presence of a penis node. In our hospital we observed two patients affected by Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL), one of them with a primitive disease. Both cases were sexually active men who did not accept a radical surgery. A conservative polichemotherapy treatment by ciclophosphamide, vincristine and prednisone has been proposed and performed for both cases and a complete resolution of disease was demonstrated. At the same time we assessed the erectile function by the IIEF score, before and after treatments.