The role of laparoscopy in children with groin problems.

The use of laparoscopic surgery has grown dramatically in recent years in most all types of surgery. Historically, the early use of laparoscopic surgery was for pelvic and groin problems. In this article we review the current technique, indications, benefits and complications of laparoscopy in diagnosis and management of various groin problems in children including undescended testes (non-palpable and palpable) and inguinal hernia.

Exploring Urological Surgery Wait Times as a Quality Indicator of Care: A Case Study of Different Health Care Systems.

Introduction: We determined and compared wait times for urological procedures at 2 centers in different health care systems to more fully understand the usefulness of wait times as a quality indicator.

Methods: A retrospective review of patient wait times for transurethral bladder tumor resection was performed at Albany Medical Center, Albany, New York and Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The time from the decision for surgery until the completion of surgery (Wait 2) was determined for 495 consecutive patients during calendar years 2011 and 2012.

Management of undescended testis may be improved with educational updates for referring providers.

Objective: A large proportion of boys referred for undescended testis (UDT) is not managed optimally prior to the referral, with the majority seen at >1 year of age and many having unnecessary ultrasound (US). Our objective was to assess the magnitude of these problems in our area and to determine if unnecessary US decreased following interventions to educate referring providers (RPs).

Materials And Methods: A chart review was done on new patients referred for UDT from January 2010 to June 2012.