Many kidney stone patients rely on opioids to ease stent pain, but a new study published in the AUA Journals suggests that they may not be effective at relieving post-operative pain!

Researchers used a PROMIS assessment to determine the effectiveness of opioids in easing stent pain. Surprisingly, patients on opioids experienced the same level of pain intensity and interference as those who were not.

With the U.S. surpassing 100,000 drug-related deaths in 2020¹, many urologists are exploring alternative pain management protocols to avoid prescribing opioids. Advise patients to opt for opioid-free treatments, they are safer and more effective!

Read more here: The impact of ureteral stent omission and an opiate-free protocol on patient reported outcomes following ureteroscopy

1. 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 12 months during the pandemic

Despite rapid advancements in kidney stone treatments, stone recurrence rates remain high. Assts Prof Kyle Wood, M.D., attributes this phenomenon to urologists’ low levels of compliance with treatment guidelines.

“We’re very good at surgically treating stones,” Asst. Prof Wood, M.D., said. “But we’ve done a pretty poor job as a practice at managing kidney stones. I think the biggest issue is we haven’t even followed our guidelines.”

Read more here: Stone management often falls short

Complete kidney stone clearance is the target outcome for most urologists. However, recent studies suggest that this may not align with some patients’ expectations!

According to Dr Necole M. Streeper, urologists may be overtreating patients to meet stone-free targets. This is causing frustration among patients who prefer to leave asymptomatic stones untreated, rather than undergo repeated surgeries.

Utilizing surveys like WISQOL and SF-36 to gauge patients’ quality of life can help urologists better understand their patients’ goals and set more accurate outcome targets.

Read more here: Should Asymptomatic Renal Stones Be Surgically Treated? Pro-Observation

A new study presented by Teoh et al. highlights the gender inequality in urology.

Major associations consistently failed to include female urologists in their meetings, with 181 sessions led by all-male panels, and an average of 87% of male faculty members in attendance. In addition, male faculty received more opportunities to participate than female faculty in the same lower quartile of the H-index.

How can we better embrace diversity? No more manels is just the first step towards a more inclusive Urology.

Source: A Quantitative Analysis Investigating the Prevalence of “Manels” in Major Urology Meetings 

Female urologists continue to suffer from one of the worst gender pay gaps among physicians, in a staggering undervaluation of their work. But what is driving this disparity in urology?

According to lead author and Associate Professor of Pediatric Urology, Amanda North, some female urologists may have been forced to settle for a lower pay due to patient preferences and inequitable practice settings, whereas others may have chosen to forgo higher wages to provide patients with better quality of care.

Urologists, do these findings resonate with your experiences? What can we do to close the pay gap and show our female colleagues greater support?

Read more here: The Gender Pay Gap in Urology

Watch the full interview here: Dr. North discusses the gender pay gap in urology

Maximizing operating room (OR) efficiency can help hospitals achieve cost savings, boost team morale, and even increase patient satisfaction. How can we work smarter and improve the patient experience? #Dornier5G

As researchers from Mayo Clinic recently discovered, the answers may lie in a data-driven process review. By applying the Six Sigma methodology to their workflow analysis, the team at Mayo Clinic identified staff lateness as a major challenge that could be resolved by optimizing OR team sizes and staggering surgical start times. Implementing such changes eventually helped them reduce OR turnover time to just 20 minutes!

How are you increasing efficiency in your workflow?

Read more: Improving Operating Room Efficiency Using the Six Sigma Methodology