Development of a Wound-Healing Protocol for In Vitro Evaluation of Urothelial Cell Growth.

Unlabelled: Urethral healing is plagued by strictures, impacting quality of life and medical costs. Various growth factors (GFs) have shown promise as therapeutic approaches to improve healing, but there is no protocol for in vitro comparison between GFs. This study focuses the development of a biomimetic in vitro urothelial healing assay designed to mimic early in vivo healing, followed by an evaluation of urothelial cell growth in response to GFs.

Do the materials matter? A review of the literature and analysis of the materials properties of urethral stents for hypospadias repair.

Introduction: Despite the prevalence of hypospadias surgery and the common use of postoperative urethral stents, there has been no evaluation of the material properties of common stents. Our study sets out to close this gap with a literature review of recent publications comparing outcomes after hypospadias surgery for different urethral stent types and an evaluation of the material properties of four common urethral stents.

Study Design: A review of the English language literature from 2011 to 2021 was performed.

Harnessing the epic electronic medical record to track indwelling ureteral stents in a pediatric population.

Introduction: Retention of indwelling ureteral stents due to loss to follow-up can result in significant harm to patients, often requiring multiple trips to the operating room. Despite widespread use of electronic medical records, there are few standardized options for urologists to track ureteral stents and no data on the rate of retained stents in a pediatric population.

Objective: This pilot quality improvement project aims to: 1) develop a simple process to track indwelling ureteral stents using the Epic electronic medical record and 2) determine the incidence of forgotten stents in a pediatric population.

Women Are Underrepresented in Prestigious Recognition Awards in the American Urological Association.

Objective: To determine the proportion of women who received awards from the American Urological Association (AUA) and evaluate whether this has changed over time as the proportion of practicing female urologists has increased.

Methods: A retrospective review of award recipients from the AUA website was performed. Gender of award recipient, type of award and year received were collected and the trend over time was compared with the AUA census.

Telehealth in Pediatric Surgical Subspecialties: Rapid Adoption in the Setting of COVID-19.

Telehealth has evolved over the past several decades to address varying medical needs. Most recently, it has been widely utilized as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most previous studies have not performed in-depth analyses of patient satisfaction with telehealth technologies.

Tissue Engineering Opportunities for Vaginal Replacement in a Pediatric Population.

Treatment for children born with vaginal agenesis remains difficult, without a clear gold standard for tissue replacement. An autologous-engineered vaginal replacement would significantly improve quality of life for people born with this condition. The aim of this study was to critically review literature on the current state of tissue engineering for vaginal reconstruction in a pediatric population.

Patient-reported outcomes in adult females with bladder exstrophy: A study of long-term sexual, reproductive and urinary outcomes using social media.

Introduction: Limited data exist on patient-reported outcomes in adults with bladder exstrophy (BE). We partnered with the Association for the Bladder Exstrophy Community (A-BE-C) using social media to survey adult females with BE. The aim of the study was to assess long-term patient-reported sexual, reproductive and continence outcomes.

A survey and panel discussion of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on paediatric urological productivity, guideline adherence and provider stress.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented need to re-organise and re-align priorities for all surgical specialties. Despite the current declining numbers globally, the direct effects of the pandemic on institutional practices and on personal stress and coping mechanisms remains unknown. The aims of this study were to assess the effect of the pandemic on daily scheduling and work balances, its effects on stress, and to determine compliance with guidelines and to assess whether quarantining has led to other areas of increased productivity.

Racial disparities in analgesic use amongst patients presenting to the emergency department for kidney stones in the United States.

Introduction: We sought quantify racial disparities in use of analgesia amongst patients seen in Emergency Departments for renal colic.

Methods: We identified all individuals presenting to the Emergency Department with urolithiasis from 2003 to 2015 in the nationally representative Premier Hospital Database. We included patients discharged in ≤1 day and excluded those with chronic pain or renal insufficiency.

The Use of Social Media in Pediatric Urology-Forging New Paths or Crossing Boundaries?

Purpose Of Review: There has been a remarkable change in how people connect, access, and share professional and medical information over social media. This perspective article describes opportunities, potential pitfalls, and guidelines for social media use by pediatric urology providers.

Recent Findings: Pediatric urologists have effectively used social media to connect and share expertise, augment scientific conference participation, promote themselves and their research, disseminate guidelines and best practices, participate in virtual journal clubs, and engage with patients and their families.

Quality Improvement-Driven Reduction in Countywide Medicaid Acute Asthma Health Care Utilization.

Objective: This study evaluates the impact of a coordinated effort by an urban pediatric hospital and its associated accountable care organization to reduce asthma-related emergency department (ED) and inpatient utilization by a large, countywide Medicaid patient population.

Methods: Multiple evidence-based interventions targeting general pediatric asthma care and high health care utilizers were implemented using standardized quality improvement methodologies. Annual asthma ED and inpatient utilization rates by 2- to 18-year-old members of an accountable care organization living in the surrounding county (>140,000 eligible members in 2016), adjusted per 1000 children from 2008 through 2016, were analyzed using Poisson regression.

Implementation of a "real world" School-Based Asthma Therapy program targeting urban children with poorly controlled asthma.

Objective: Describe implementation and clinical impact of a "real world" School-Based Asthma Therapy (SBAT) Program serving an urban, largely Medicaid population in a large midwestern city in the United States.

Methods: A retrospective, descriptive evaluation of SBAT was conducted. Students were referred by school nurses or providers, enrolled throughout the year, and could reenroll in subsequent years.

Predicting anatomical urological abnormalities in children who present with their first urinary tract infection.

Objectives: Classically, presence of fever≥38.0°C is used to distinguish pyelonephritis from cystitis. We analyzed whether this is an appropriate marker to initiate further workup and whether temperature is correlated with urological abnormalities and further surgical or pharmacological intervention.

A novel method of evaluating ureteropelvic junction obstruction: dynamic near infrared fluorescence imaging compared to standard modalities to assess urinary obstruction in a swine model.

Purpose: Dynamic near infrared fluorescence imaging of the urinary tract provides a promising way to diagnose ureteropelvic junction obstruction. Initial studies demonstrated the ability to visualize urine flow and peristalsis in great detail. We analyzed the efficacy of near infrared imaging in evaluating ureteropelvic junction obstruction, renal involvement and the anatomical detail provided compared to conventional imaging modalities.

A comparative direct cost analysis of pediatric urologic robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery versus open surgery: could robot-assisted surgery be less expensive?

Background And Purpose: Cost in healthcare is an increasing and justifiable concern that impacts decisions about the introduction of new devices such as the da Vinci(®) surgical robot. Because equipment expenses represent only a portion of overall medical costs, we set out to make more specific cost comparisons between open and robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery.

Materials And Methods: We performed a retrospective, observational, matched cohort study of 146 pediatric patients undergoing either open or robot-assisted laparoscopic urologic surgery from October 2004 to September 2009 at a single institution.

Genome gender diversity in affected sib-pairs with familial vesico-ureteric reflux identified by single nucleotide polymorphism linkage analysis.

Unlabelled: Study Type - Aetiology (case series) Level of Evidence 4 What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Genetic linkage to distinguish loci for VUR has been previously described in several autosomal chromosomes. Although there are numerous explanations for the dissimilar findings, e.g.

Predictors for negative ureteroscopy in the management of upper urinary tract stone disease.

Objective: To identify factors predictive of negative ureteroscopy (URS). Although computed tomography (CT) scans are sensitive in assessing upper tract calculi, there is increased effort to limit CT radiation exposure. On occasion, patients undergo URS and it is discovered that the stone has already passed.

Competitive seedlings and inherited traits: a test of rapid evolution of Elymus multisetus (big squirreltail) in response to cheatgrass invasion.

Widespread invasion by Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) in the Intermountain West has drastically altered native plant communities. We investigated whether Elymus multisetus (big squirreltail) is evolving in response to invasion and what traits contribute to increased performance. Seedlings from invaded areas exhibited significantly greater tolerance to B.

Traumatic vasculogenic erectile dysfunction: role of penile microarterial bypass surgery.

Penile microarterial bypass surgery (MABS) may be the only treatment capable of restoring normal erectile function without necessity of chronic use of vasoactive medications or placement of a penile prosthesis. Lack of standardization in patient selection, hemodynamic evaluation, surgical technique, and limited long-term outcome data using validated instruments has resulted in this surgery being considered experimental. In addition, poor reimbursements, long surgical time, and the need for microsurgical expertise have lead to infrequent penile revascularization procedures.