Male infertility: an overview of causes and treatment options.

It is estimated that 3.5 million people in the UK, that is one in every seven couples, have fertility problems. In the past, it was assumed that the cause always lay with the woman.

Efficacy and degree of bias in knee injury prevention studies: a systematic review of RCTs.

Background: Knee injury prevention programs have been developed to address the epidemic of knee injuries in young athletes. These programs include exercises that focus on balance, proprioception, and neuromuscular control. Some studies have suggested such specialized exercise programs may reduce the risk of knee injury.

Musculoskeletal pain in elite professional musicians from British symphony orchestras.

Background: Professional musicians have high rates of musculoskeletal pain, but few studies have analysed risks by work activities or the psychosocial work environment.

Aims: To assess the prevalence and impact of musculoskeletal pain, and its relation to playing conditions, mental health and performance anxiety, in musicians from leading British symphony orchestras.

Methods: Musicians from six professional orchestras completed a questionnaire concerning their orchestral duties and physical activities at work, mental health (somatizing tendency, mood, demand, support and control at work, performance anxiety) and regional pain in the past 4 weeks and past 12 months.

The evidence for urethral meatal cleansing.

This article, the fourth in a series of articles relating to clinical skills in nursing, outlines the procedure of urethral meatal cleansing. This involves cleansing the area around the urethra and is usually undertaken before insertion of a urinary catheter.

Modified ureterosigmoidostomy (Mainz II): a long-term follow-up.

Objective: To assess the long-term results in patients treated using a modified ureterosigmoidostomy (Mainz II).

Patients And Methods: Between 1994 and 1999, 17 patients had their lower urinary tract reconstructed by a ureterosigmoidostomy, modified by reconfiguring the rectum to make a low-pressure reservoir (Mainz II). All patients were followed on a standard protocol.

Pregnancy after lower urinary tract reconstruction for congenital abnormalities.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of pregnancy on renal function, and the effect of congenital urinary tract abnormality and reconstruction on pregnancy and delivery.

Patients And Methods: The case notes were reviewed of 20 women (median age 32.5 years) who had had 29 live babies.

[The effect of enterocystoplasty in childhood on linear growth].

Objective: The assumption that enterocystoplasty in children has a detrimental effect on linear growth has been based almost exclusively upon a chance finding in a retrospective study 10 years ago. We re-evaluated the same research question in a larger cohort and with a longer follow-up.

Patients And Methods: Between 1982 and 1997, 242 children and adolescents underwent enterocystoplasty.

Diagnosis of perforated enterocystoplasty.

In the operation of enterocystoplasty, now widely practised, segments of bowel are used to augment or replace the urinary bladder. An occasional complication is perforation, and this may present in non-specialist settings. We investigated the management of spontaneous perforations among 264 patients with enterocystoplasty followed by one surgeon for 2-18 years.

Enterocystoplasty in childhood: a second look at the effect on growth.

Objective: To re-evaluate the assumption that enterocystoplasty in children has a detrimental effect on linear growth (which is almost exclusively based upon a chance finding in a retrospective study 10 years ago) in a larger cohort and with a longer follow-up.

Patients And Methods: The original 12 children who had impaired linear growth in a previous study 10 years earlier were re-measured. A larger cohort was identified from the 242 children and adolescents who had undergone enterocystoplasty between 1982 and 1997.

The empowerment of patients with chronic urinary tract infection.

Living with a chronic illness affects every aspect of a person's life, including his or her sense of self, family relationships and work. It may be particularly hard to cope with an illness that is invisible, such as chronic urinary tract infection. Nurses can work with patients to help them feel empowered to take control of their condition.

False-positive pregnancy tests in patients with enterocystoplasties.

Objective: To determine the incidence and causes of false-positive pregnancy tests in patients with enterocystoplasties. Patients and methods In a pilot study, 15 consecutive patients (both sexes, with any type of urinary diversion) provided a urine sample for testing using the Clearview pregnancy test (Unipath Ltd, Bedford, England). False-positive results occurred only in patients with continent reservoirs; patients with ileal conduits produced no false-positive results and were excluded from the main study.

The effect of intestinal urinary reservoirs on renal function: a 10-year follow-up.

Objective: To study the effect of the storage of urine in intestinal reservoirs on long-term renal function and the possible causes of deterioration.

Patients And Methods: Eighty-seven patients (aged 4-35 years) with bladder exstrophy who underwent reconstruction of the lower urinary tract using a bowel segment were enrolled in a prospective protocol. The glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was measured before and after surgery at 1, 2, 5 and 10 years using 51Cr-ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid.

The value of the MACE (Malone antegrade colonic enema) procedure in adult patients.

Background: We report our experience with the Malone antegrade colonic enema (MACE) procedure in adult patients suffering from urinary incontinence and intractable constipation with or without fecal soiling.

Study Design: Since June 1990, the MACE procedure was initiated in 4 female and 12 male patients 14-54 years old (mean age, 29.9 years) with different pathologic conditions (myelodysplasia, n = 7; anorectal anomaly, n = 3; spinal cord lesion, n = 4; neuropathic disease of unclear cause, n = 2).

The Mitrofanoff pouch: a continent urinary diversion.

1. Continent urinary diversions are an alternative diversion to urostomies. 2.