What does an urologist/andrologist do?

Eugen Plas, MD, FEBU, FECSM

Urology is a speciality of medicine that deals with treating disorders and diseases that affect female and male urinary tracts (i.e. kidneys, ureter, bladder and urethra) and the external genital organs (in men: penis and testes; in women: vulva and vagina). Urologists treat these disorders both in men and women. They deal with everything from paediatric urology, which treats, for example, medical problems that can affect new born babies (i.e. phimosis, undescended testis, urine retention in the kidneys, urinary tract infections etc.) right up to problems affecting the urinary tracts of men and women in old age. Over the past 20 years treatments for urologic disorders have greatly improved due to significant findings and technological advances, i.e., open surgery hardly ever has to be carried out in most of the kidney stone cases that occur nowadays. Numerous urologic disorders can be successfully treated without requiring open surgery due to improved surgical instruments; minimally invasive treatments such as laparoscopy surgery (known as keyhole surgery) are now classed as standard procedures that are regularly performed. Open surgery is, however, still unavoidable in some urologic disorders.

If you are looking for advice about a potential operation, I would be pleased to help!