Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for pelvic pain: A scoping review of treatment protocols, practical indications, and caveats.

BACKGROUND: Neuromodulation (NM) is a family of therapies based on electrical stimulation to target specific nerves that control LUTS (Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms) and pain. The aim is to modulate what is happening within the nervous system to achieve therapeutic effects. A particular type of neuromodulation, called TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation), has proven effective for treating pelvic pain. The available evidence provides indications regarding the many aspects of TENS that influence therapeutic effects, but a comprehensive review has yet to be conducted. METHODS: Scoping review on Pubmed, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science, including clinical trials, reviews, case studies or series, and other descriptive studies, according to the Joanna Briggs and PRISMA methodology. RESULTS: The 31 papers retrieved allowed the formulation of precise indications about the DOs and DON'Ts of electrode placement, waveform, pulse duration, pulse frequency, amplitude, session duration, and frequency of sessions. This paper also discusses the biochemical and neuro urological mechanisms of TENS. CONCLUSION: TENS effectiveness is influenced by many factors, some self-evident, others subtle, which this paper elucidates. Pelvic pain requires a multimodal approach, of which TENS is just a part. TENS should therefore be viewed as one of the components of the rehabilitation program in the frame of thorough and continuous patient assessment.

Urology in the Time of Coronavirus: Reduced Access to Urgent and Emergent Urological Care during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak in Italy.

PURPOSE: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has put a substantial burden on the Italian healthcare system, resulting in the restructuring of hospitals to care for COVID-19 patients. However, this has likely impacted access to care for patients experiencing other conditions. We aimed to quantify the impact of COVID-19 on access to care for patients with urgent/emergent urological conditions throughout Italy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire was sent to 33 urological units in the AGILE consortium, asking clinicians to report on the number of urgent/emergent urological patients seen and/or undergoing surgery over a 3-week period during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak and a reference week prior to the outbreak. ANOVA and linear regression models were used to quantify these changes. RESULTS: Data from 27 urological centres in Italy showed a decrease from 956 patients/week seen just prior to the outbreak to 291 patients/week seen by the end of the study period. There was a difference in the number of patients with urgent/emergent urological disease seen within/during the different weeks (all p values < 0.05). A significant decrease in the number of patients presenting with haematuria, urinary retention, urinary tract infection, scrotal pain, renal colic, or trauma and urgent/emergent cases that required surgery was reported (all p values < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In Italy, during the COVID-19 outbreak there has been a decrease in patients seeking help for urgent/emergent urological conditions. Restructuring of hospitals and clinics is mandatory to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the healthcare system should continue to provide adequate levels of care also to patients with other conditions.

Ex vivo fluorescence confocal microscopy: the first application for real-time pathological examination of prostatic tissue.

OBJECTIVE: To report the first application of ex vivo fluorescence confocal microscopy (FCM) - a novel optical technology that is capable of providing fast microscopic imaging of unfixed tissue specimens- in the urological field assessing its diagnostic accuracy for non neoplastic and cancerous prostate tissue (prostatic adenocarcinoma) compared to the 'gold standard' histopathological diagnoses. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In all, 89 specimens from 13 patients with clinically localised prostate cancer were enrolled into the study. All patients underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy with fresh prostatic tissue biopsies taken at the end of each intervention using an 18-G biopsy punch. Specimens were randomly assigned to the three collaborating pathologists for evaluation. Intra- and inter-observer agreement was tested by the means of Cohen's κ. The diagnostic performance was evaluated on receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. RESULTS: The overall diagnostic agreement between FCM and histopathological diagnoses was substantial with a 91% correct diagnosis (κ = 0.75) and an area under the curve of 0.884 (95% confidence interval 0.840-0.920), 83.33% sensitivity, and 93.53% specificity. CONCLUSION: FCM seems to be a promising tool for enhanced specimens' reporting performance, given its simple application and very rapid microscopic image generation (<5 min/specimen). This technique may potentially be used for intraoperative pathological specimens' analysis.

External validation of a nomogram for outcome prediction in management of medium-sized (1-2 cm) kidney stones.

BACKGROUND: Stone nomogram by Micali et al., able topredict treatment failure of shock-wave lithotripsy (SWL), retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) and percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) in the management of single 1-2 cm renal stones, was developed on 2605 patients and showed a high predictive accuracy, with an area under ROC curve of 0.793 at internal validation. The aim of the present study is to externally validate the model to assess whether it displayed a satisfactory predictive performance if applied to different populations. METHODS: External validation was retrospectively performed on 3025 patients who underwent an active stone treatment from December 2010 to June 2021 in 26 centers from four countries (Italy, USA, Spain, Argentina). Collected variables included: age, gender, previous renal surgery, preoperative urine culture, hydronephrosis, stone side, site, density, skin-to-stone distance. Treatment failure was the defined outcome (residual fragments >4 mm at three months CT-scan). RESULTS: Model discrimination in external validation datasets showed an area under ROC curve of 0.66 (95% 0.59-0.68) with adequate calibration. The retrospective fashion of the study and the lack of generalizability of the tool towards populations from Asia, Africa or Oceania represent limitations of the current analysis. CONCLUSIONS: According to the current findings, Micali's nomogram can be used for treatment prediction after SWL, RIRS and PNL; however, a lower discrimination performance than the one at internal validation should be acknowledged, reflecting geographical, temporal and domain limitation of external validation studies. Further prospective evaluation is required to refine and improve the nomogram findings and to validate its clinical value.

Pelvic lymph node dissection in prostate and bladder cancers.

Prostate cancer and bladder cancer accounts for approximately 13.5% and 3% of all male cancers and all newly diagnosed cancers (regardless sex), respectively. Thus, these cancers represent a major health and economic burden globally. The knowledge of lymph node status is an integral part of the management of any solid tumor. In the urological field, pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) is of paramount importance in the diagnosis, management, and prognosis of prostate and bladder cancers. However, PLND may be associated with several comorbidities. In this narrative review, the most recent updates concerning the patterns and incidence of lymph node metastasis, the role of different imaging studies and nomograms in determining patients' eligibility for PLND, and the anatomical templates of PLND in urologic patients with bladder or prostate cancer will be discussed.

Applications of the da Vinci single port (SP) robotic platform in urology: a systematic literature review.

INTRODUCTION: Robotic surgical technology has evolved to include a new platform specifically designed for the single-port (SP) approach. Benefits of the da Vinci SP are still under investigation. This study aimed to review the urological literature since the first report of the use of the platform. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: We performed a systematic literature review of PubMed, Medline, and Web of Science databases on June 15, 2020 searching for all available articles of da Vinci SP use from December 2014 (date of the first clinical report of da Vinci SP in the urology) until June 1, 2020 following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) Guidelines. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: A total of 43 articles were eligible for inclusion. Ten studies reported different surgeries and techniques on cadavers while the rest described the clinical experience of different groups. We divided our article and tables into preclinical experience with surgery on cadavers, radical prostatectomy (RP) approach, and multiple types of procedures described in the same study. CONCLUSIONS: The application of da Vinci SP in urologic procedures after five years of the first clinical investigation is feasible and safe. Radical prostatectomy is the most common intervention performed with this robot. Some groups described benefits in terms of less postoperative pain and early discharge, especially with the extraperitoneal approach. However, further studies with larger sample sizes and longer follow-up are awaited.

The surgical learning curve for salvage robot-assisted radical prostatectomy: a prospective single-surgeon study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to report the overall results and the learning curve (LC) in salvage robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (sRARP) patients, in terms of morbidity, oncological and functional outcomes in a single surgeon tertiary-referral center. METHODS: One hundred and twenty patients underwent sRARP by a single surgeon (V.P.) from 2008 to 2018. To assess the trends in the learning experience they were sub-divided in 4 groups of 30 consecutive patients based on date of surgery. The Kaplan-Meier method and regression models were used to identify survival estimations and predictors of potency, continence and biochemical failure (BCF) at 12 months. RESULTS: As the learning experience for sRALP increased operative time (OT) was significantly shorter (from 139.5 to 121 minutes) and the amount of nerve-sparing (NS) undertaken increased (from 46% to 80%). While complications rate remained stable, estimated blood loss (EBL) and radiographic anastomotic leaks (RAL) decreased through the groups (from 124 to 69 ml and 40% to 16,7%, respectively). BCF and continence rates at 12 months after sRARP were similar among groups (23-36% and 36,7-50%, respectively) and chance of potency rates tended to increase (from 3.3% to 16-23%) but was not statistically significant. In a multivariate analysis, predictors for BCF were PSM and GS 8-10. Non-radiation primary treatment was the unique predictor of continence at 12 months after sRARP. CONCLUSIONS: Our data may suggest a decreasing trend in terms of OT and EBL through the sRARP learning curve. While morbidity remained stable through the time, RAL trended towards a decline. A higher degree of NS was observed through the groups and there was a slight correlation trend between surgical expertise and potency recovery. PSM and GS 8-10 were predictors of BCF and non-radiation primary treatment predicted a better continence after sRARP.

Thulium-laser retrograde intra renal ablation of upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinoma: an ESUT Study.

BACKGROUND: Radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) is the gold standard treatment for upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC); however, patients presenting with small low-grade UTUC have been treated by flexible ureteroscopic laser ablation with good outcomes. Different types of laser have been discussed in the literature including Holmium and Neodymium lasers. We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of Thulium laser (Tm:YAG) in the ureteroscopic ablation of UTUC. METHODS: A retrospective observational multicentre study of patients diagnosed with papillary UTUC between January 2015 and December 2016 was carried out. All patients underwent ureteroscopic biopsy of the UTUC followed by Tm:YAG ablation. Based on the histopathological grade of the tumor, patients were counseled to undergo either RNU (high- grade tumors) or conservative management and follow-up (low-grade tumor). RESULTS: RNU was performed in 31 patients, while the remaining 47 patients (undergone Tm:YAG ablation only) were followed up for a mean of 11.7 months with only 19.2% of patients showing upper tract recurrence and no patients showed postoperative ureteral strictures. Limitations include the short follow-up and retrospective nature of the study. CONCLUSIONS: On the short term, thulium Laser ablation of UTUC is safe and feasible especially in low-grade UTUC.

En-bloc resection of bladder tumors for pathological staging: the value of lateral margins analysis.

BACKGROUND: In endoscopic resection of colorectal tumors, the pathological assessment of the lateral margins is a strong predictor of tumor recurrence after resection. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the value of the peritumoral margins assessment in ERBT on tumor recurrence. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 50 consecutive patients with NMIBC and treated by ERBT between January and December 2017. RESULTS: The lateral margins showed dysplasia in 16 patients and malignancy in three patients. Local recurrence occurred in 14 (28%) patients. It was noted that 57% of patients with recurrence showed some degree of dysplasia or malignancy in the lateral margin; however, on multivariate logistic regression lateral margins lesions were not significantly associated with recurrence (OR 2.175, 95% CI: 0.430-10.996, P=0.35). CONCLUSIONS: ERBT may improve the pathological report of bladder tumor. There was a trend toward increased rate of recurrence in patients with dysplasia or malignancy in their lateral margins; however, this was not statistically significant on multivariate analysis. Further studies with larger sample sizes are required to assess the value of lateral margin analysis.

Reliability of the different versions of Partin tables in predicting extraprostatic extension of prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Accurate prediction of extraprostatic extension (EPE) of prostate cancer (PCa) is the keystone for deciding whether to perform a neurovascular bundle sparing (NVBs) radical prostatectomy or not, which will subsequently affect the postoperative functional outcomes especially potency. Partin tables are the most commonly used predictive tools (PTs) for prediction of EPE. Moreover, they are the most commonly externally validated. In these settings, the aim of our work is to perform a systematic review of the literature and a meta-analysis for the discriminative performance of the different versions of Partin tables for EPE prediction. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A systematic search of Medline, Scopus and Cochrane library was performed to include all the external validation (EV) studies that reported the discriminative performance (area under the curve [AUC]) of the different versions of Partin tables as a PT for EPE. Different versions of Partin tables (1997, 2001, 2007, 2010, and 2013) were included in separate meta-analyses. The pooled AUC with 95% CI were calculated to determine the weighted summary AUC using the random effect model. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Twenty-six studies carried out in different countries including the USA, Korea, Germany, Ireland, China, Austria, France, Italy, the UK, and India were included. Considering the small number and generally low quality of the EV studies in literature, most of the included studies showed some sort of bias especially in the sample size & missing data domain. The pooled EPE AUC were 0.642 (95% CI; 0.601-0.682), 0.672 (95% CI; 0.617-0.727), 0.659 (95% CI; 0.623-0.695), 0.669 (95% CI; 0.623-0.715) and 0.644 (95% CI; 0.545-0.742) for the 1997, 2001, 2007, 2010 and 2013 versions, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Despite being the most commonly used predictive tool for prediction of EPE, the pooled EPE AUC for different versions of Partin tables showed poor discriminative performance. Thus, surgeons must be cautious when referring to Partin tables for prediction of EPE. Further EV studies are required to confirm these results.

Effect of puboprostatic ligament reconstruction on continence recovery after robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy: our initial experience.

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer represents a serious health problem worldwide. Radical prostatectomy is the gold standard for management of localized prostate cancer. Urinary incontinence is among the most common complications affecting robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) patients' postoperative quality of life. Several surgical modifications were introduced to overcome this problem including the puboprostatic ligament reconstruction. In this study, we discuss our technique of anterior reconstruction of the puboprostatic ligament during RALP and its effect on the continence outcome postoperatively. METHODS: In this retrospective study, the data of 95 consecutive patients were analyzed and the patients were divided in two groups; the control group "group A" (47 patients) and the anterior reconstruction group "group B" (48 patients). The primary endpoint of this study was to compare both groups as regards the postoperative continence rates. RESULTS: Complete continence (no pads) rates were reported at time of catheter removal (T0), 1 month (T1), 4 months (T4), 6 months (T6) and 12 months (T12) postoperatively. Moreover, the social continence (0-1 security pad) was reported at 12 months postoperatively. Complete continence was significantly different between both groups at T0 and T6 (P=0.022, and P=0.035 respectively). The social continence was not significantly different between both groups (85.1% vs. 89.6% in group A vs. group B). CONCLUSIONS: Despite anterior reconstruction of the puboprostatic ligament showed no significant effect on the overall continence, it showed earlier return to continence up to 6 months, which supports the theory that anterior puboprostatic reconstruction may provide better immediate continence and shorten the time to continence for RALP patients. However, most of the published literature showed better continence rates with the total anatomical reconstruction (combined anterior and posterior). Therefore, we started to offer patients in our center total anatomical reconstruction during RALP.

Advantages of the supine transgluteal approach for distal ureteral stone extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy: outcomes based on CT characteristics.

BACKGROUND: Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) for distal ureteral stones can be performed in prone or supine position. The aim of this study was to investigate the advantages brought by the supine transgluteal ESWL approach for distal ureteral stones treatment using real-time ultrasound (US), and to show how computerized tomography (CT) scan parameters may be related to the outcomes. METHODS: Seventy consecutive supine transgluteal ESWL of distal ureteral stones were performed. All patients had a pre-treatment CT scan. The following parameter were evaluated: stone size, Hounsfield Units, skin-to-stone distance, sciaticum majus foramen width, stone to ureteral ostium distance, fragmentation and expulsion perception during the treatment, and the stone-free status. Stone focusing was obtained US, which allows a real-time visualization of stone location and fragmentation. Follow-up included a kidney ureter bladder (KUB) film and US examination at 2-3 weeks after treatment (median time: 18 days). Stone-free condition was defined as the complete absence of stone fragments. A linear regression analysis was used to assess the possible variables mostly related to stone-free status. P<0.05 was considered as significant. RESULTS: Median number of SWL sessions for patient was 1 (IQR: 1-1), mean 1.2±0.5. The re-treatment rate for stone-free patients was 18.3%. Stone-free rate was 85.7%. A clear and real time US stone fragmentation was perceived by the surgeon during the treatment in 42/70 (60%) of patients and correlated to the definitive stone-free status (P=0.04). Stone to ureteral ostium distance was the only variable affecting the stone-free condition (P=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Supine transgluteal SWL of distal ureteral stones provide satisfactory outcomes in terms of stone-free rate. The distance of the stone to the ureteral ostium, measured by CT, appeared to be the only significant variable connected to SWL success.