Purpose
Animal studies have shown the potential benefits of mannitol as renoprotective during warm ischemia; it may have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and is sometimes used during ...partial nephrectomy (PN) and live donor nephrectomy (LDN). Despite this, a prospective study on mannitol has never been performed. The aim of this study is to document patterns of mannitol use during PN and LDN.
Materials and methods
A survey on the use of mannitol during PN and LDN was sent to 92 high surgical volume urological centers. Questions included use of mannitol, indications for use, physician responsible for administration, dosage, timing and other renoprotective measures.
Results
Mannitol was used in 78 and 64 % of centers performing PN and LDN, respectively. The indication for use was as antioxidant (21 %), as diuretic (5 %) and as a combination of the two (74 %). For PN, the most common dosages were 12.5 g (30 %) and 25 g (49 %). For LDN, the most common doses were 12.5 g (36.3 %) and 25 g (63.7 %). Overall, 83 % of centers utilized mannitol, and two (percent or centers??) utilized furosemide for renoprotection.
Conclusions
A large majority of high-volume centers performing PN and LDN use mannitol for renoprotection. Since there are no data proving its value nor standardized indication and usage, this survey may provide information for a randomized prospective study.
Purpose
We describe a new preperitoneal technique that makes use of a plug fixed with a single percutaneous suture to cover the hernial defect during prostatic surgery.
Methods
One hundred and ...twenty-seven patients with unilateral or bilateral inguinal hernia underwent preperitoneal prosthetic hernioplasty during pelvic surgery for benign or malignant prostatic pathologies. These procedures (153 hernioplasties in total) were performed by the same urologist using the new technique described.
Results
There was only one recurrence (0.6 %) reported by patients undergoing preperitoneal inguinal hernioplasty with our new technique. No patients had other complications like infections, fistula, painful scrotum, or hematoma.
Conclusions
The new technique, described by us, is easily performed, and it does not require a long execution time. It provides minimum tension on the surrounding tissues and it can be performed safely and without important complications like recurrence, infection, and chronic pain.
Radical orchiectomy (RO) is still considered the standard of care for malignant germ cell tumours, which represent the vast majority of the palpable testicular masses. In those patients diagnosed ...with small testicular masses (STMs), testis-sparing surgery (TSS) could be an alternative treatment to RO. The aim of this updated review is to evaluate the current indications for TSS, and discuss the oncological and functional results of patients who had undergone organ-sparing surgery for STMs.
A non-systematic review of the Literature using the Medline database has been performed, including a free-text protocol using the terms "testis-sparing surgery", "testicular sparing surgery", "partial orchiectomy", "testis tumour", "sex cord tumour", and "testis function". Other significant studies cited in the reference lists of the selected papers were also evaluated.
No randomized controlled trials comparing TSS with radical orchiectomy have been reported yet. In those patients with normal contra-lateral testis, the use of TSS is still controversial. In selected cases of gonadal masses < 2 cm, TSS seems to be a safe and feasible treatment option. Frozen section examination allows us to discriminate between benign and malignant neoplasms during TSS. Intermediate and long-term follow-up results showed no significant risk of local and distant recurrences in the main series reported in the literature.
TSS is an effective treatment for STMs in selected patients, limiting the unnecessary surgical over-treatments, without compromising the oncological and functional outcomes. Further studies are needed in order to confirm the oncological safety.