Achieving optimal hydration is crucial particularly for patients with nephrolithiasis. Research suggest that intake should approach 2.5 to 3.5 L per day to allow for the daily excretion of 2 to 3 litres of dilute urine1. Unfortunately, patient compliance is known to be quite poor and only around 50% of…
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Virtual Reality in ESWL: A Novel Approach to Pain Management
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is a well-established treatment for kidney and ureteric stone disease, employing high-energy shock waves to fragment stones into smaller pieces for passage through the urinary tract. This article explores the application of virtual reality (VR) for pain management during ESWL. Pain during ESWL procedures Pain…
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Surgical risk prediction
Patients presenting for urological surgery range from the young and fit to the elderly with multiple, often significant, coexisting diseases. This latter group poses a significant challenge in the perioperative period, sometimes irrespective of the type of surgery. Among our patient population lies a hidden subgroup of high-risk individuals, who…
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The updated Rotterdam Prostate Cancer Risk Calculator
Following the PROMIS trial [1], many cancer centres in the UK are now offering pre-biopsy multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) for men suitable for radical treatment. The European Association of Urology for Prostate Cancer (PCa) guidelines recommend individual risk stratification before the performance of mpMRI in men who have received a negative biopsy result [2]. The…
Information methods
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Research Revolution
There was a time, not so long ago, when you actually had to go to a library to read a journal article. If the library did not have the article you needed, you would ask your librarian to source the article and pay for the journal to be loaned to…
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Medium for urologists
Yet another social media platform? A new social media platform seems to be announced on a weekly basis and it can be difficult to work out which are here to stay, and which will quickly fade into the distance. Medium is a free and open social media writing platform. Medium…
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Advanced Twitter
It has been a few years since my post on “Twitter for urologists” was published in Urology News 1. Given the continued rise of the platform, I thought it was time to revisit and expand on the Twitter’s functionality. In this review, I will attempt to expand your use of Twitter…
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Urology Smartphone Apps 2016
Amongst the plethora of mobile applications, there are some essential applications for practising urologists, urologists in training and allied healthcare professionals. In this month’s digital review, we highlight some essential applications. Mobile office apps Maintaining a virtual office is key to keeping up with the demands of practising Urology…
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Figure 1
Figure 1 is an app that aids in the sharing of medical images to aid learning. In essence, Figure 1 is as an Instagram for healthcare. It was launched in 2013 and now connects a network of up to one million healthcare professionals. The aim of Figure 1 is to…
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EAU Pocket Guidelines App
The European Association of Urology (EAU) has released a significantly improved EAU Guidelines app, consolidating cancer and benign guidelines into a single, user-friendly interface. Navigating the guidelines is now easier with touch-responsive squares and, crucially, the content is divided into sub-sections, making it much more practical for use in clinics…