Urology

From ArticleWorld

Urology is the study of the urinary tract and its diseases in both males and females. Generally it can include or not the study of the kidney because diseases of the kidney itself fall under the category of nephrology. Urologists can deal with both medical and surgical conditions involving the urinary tract. Within the field of urology are several subcategories, such as oncology, pediatric urology and sexual dysfunction.

Medical urology

Medical urology deals with non-surgical conditions of the urinary tract. This can involve conditions such as urinary tract infections and diseases like male infertility and sexual dysfunction (although the treatment of sexual dysfunction can be surgical as well). The study and treatment of urinary tract stone diseases are also non-surgical normally; however, surgery may be required in rare cases.

The medical urologist uses medical devices such as the cystoscope to evaluate the inside of the bladder and the openings to the ureters. Urinary tract stones can be grabbed from the bladder and the distal ureter using this instrument. Another commonly-used urologic instrument is the cystometrogram, which is a means of measuring the ability of the bladder to hold urine and how well it functions in voiding.

Surgical urology

Most urologists also perform surgery on the urinary tract itself. Sometimes very large stones in the pelvis of the kidney must be surgically removed. Lithotripsy involves the use of ultrasound waves to burst a kidney stone into smaller pieces that can be voided. Surgery to remove bladder tumors is done via a cystoscope or through major surgery.

Urologists also perform surgery in situations where the bladder is “sagging”, a condition where incontinence is likely. This kind of surgery is done to keep the bladder in the position where it was intended to be. In males, the treatment of male incontinence is sometimes treated using surgically-placed penile implants—a procedure performed by urologists. Urologists also generally perform surgery on the prostate when it is cancerous or is too large and also perform circumcisions on anyone who is not a newborn.

Subspecialties

Subspecialties of urology include urologists that work with children (pediatric urology), infertility-related urology and urologists that deal only with cancerous diseases of the urinary tract (urologic oncology). Some urologists specialize in voiding dysfunction in both males and females.