Evaluation and Long-term Management of Neurogenic Bladder in Spinal Dysraphism.

Spinal dysraphism, which includes conditions such as myelomeningocele and sacral agenesis, is one of the most common causes of congenital lower urinary tract dysfunction. Early evaluation of the neurogenic bladder serves to minimize renal damage, and the main goals of management include preserving renal function, achieving acceptable continence, and optimizing quality of life. The survival of patients with such conditions has improved to greater than 80% reaching adulthood, owing to advances in diagnostic and therapeutic modalities.

Reducing Opioid Prescriptions in Outpatient Pediatric Urological Surgery.

Purpose: We assessed the impact of a 2-phase Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle to decrease opioid prescriptions following pediatric urological surgery.

Materials And Methods: Parents of children undergoing outpatient urological procedures were given questionnaires to assess opioid dosing and pain scores using the Parents' Postoperative Pain Measure scale. Age, procedure and opioid prescription data were recorded, as well as volume of medication administered.

Patient Portal Usage in Pediatric Urology: Is it Meaningful Use for Everyone?

Introduction: The Affordable Care Act promotes multiple directives for meaningful use of the Electronic Health Record, such as patient/provider portals, to increase patient engagement. Although portal use is common within adult healthcare, little information exists regarding pediatric portal use. We examined pediatric urology patient portal enrollment and activation patterns at a tertiary pediatric hospital in Southern California by race/ethnicity, preferred language, gender, and residential region.

Introducing the Twitter Impact Factor: An Objective Measure of Urology's Academic Impact on Twitter.

Background: Social media use in academia and urology is rising. Specifically, individual journals now have Twitter accounts (Twitter Inc, San Francisco, CA, USA) and regularly tweet academic content.

Objective: To present and evaluate the Twitter impact factor (TIF), a novel means of measuring a journal's academic influence in the realm of social media.

Evaluation and Lifetime Management of the Urinary Tract in Patients with Myelomeningocele.

In the United States, there are an estimated 25,000 children ages 0 to 19 years and about 166,000 of all ages currently affected by spina bifida. Management is multimodal and can be complex. Management techniques vary throughout a child's lifetime, but the goals remain the same: prevention of urinary tract infections and establishing acceptable continence.