What is Urology?

Urology is the surgical speciality dealing with congentital anomaly, disease, and injury of the male and female urinary tracts and the male gential tract.

The specialty treats patients of all ages - from infants to the elderly.

The urinary tract is anatomically inaccessible. In the past surgical approaches involved long, painful incisions through the anterior abdominal wall, flank, back and even through the chest. These incisions caused pain and were unsightly. Patients took long periods to recover from this surgery and took an especially long time to get back to productive work. This led to Urology becoming one of the most innovative specialities and an early adopter of new surgical techniques. Whilst modern Urologists still use traditional open surgery to treat patients, Urology has been amongst the first to use endoscopy to access all areas of the urinary tract using telescopes. Urology was a pioneering specialty in the use of laperoscopic keyhole surgery to access abdominal and pelvic cavities. Urology also uses percutaneous sugery to access the interior of the kidney. Urology has also been one of the first specialities to use robotic assistance for surgical procedures.

The majority of modern adult Urological practice involves treatment of benign prostatic enlargement, urogenital cancers, urinary tract infections, urinary incontinence and stones. Modern Urologists manage urological problems using lifestyle modification, physical therapy and drug therapy. Not all urological problems require surgery.