Urology Ward

The Urology Department treats all pathologies related to the male urogenital system and the female urinary tract. The ward, which was recently instituted as its own separate department, can be found within the General Surgery Ward which has 31 beds at its disposal and is located on the second floor of the hospital (elevator 7).

The ward offers a top-class service through a highly qualified medical team equipped with the latest medical and surgical instruments.

The medical activity consists of:

• Assistance in the ward
• Specialist Outpatient Clinic (general urology, uro-oncology follow-up, andrology, cystoscopy, urology and andrology ultrasound, prostate biopsy, functional urology with urodynamic studies and uroflowmeter)
• Inpatient surgery, day surgery, and emergency surgery.

The ward guarantees 24-hour coverage for any type of urology emergency through a system of doctors on duty and on-call.

The surgical activity consists of:

-Minimally Invasive Surgery:

• Robotically assisted surgery (radical prostatectomy, renal tumorectomy, pyeloplasty, cystectomy, sacral colpopexy, pyelolitotomy, reconstructive surgery of the urinary tract)
• Laparascopic (radical nephrectomy, nephroureterectomy, adrenalectomy)
• Laser surgery (HoLEP, adenomectomy)
• Endourology of upper tract (Flexible and rigid ureterorenoscopy with laser ablations of urinary tumors and laser lithotripsy of urinary stones, PCNL-Percutaneous nephrolithotomy)
• Endourology of lower tract (TURP-Transurethral resection of the prostate, TURBT- Surgical resection of a bladder tumor)
• HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound) for treating prostate tumors

-Traditional Uro-oncologic Surgery (radical cystectomy with ileal neobladder, radical orchiectomy, retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy, penectomy, inguinal lymphadenectomy)

-Andrology and Urethral Surgery (corporoplastic, plaque surgery for Induratio Penis Plastica, penile prosthesis, urethral plastic surgery)

 -Surgery for Male and Female Incontinence (prosthesis placement for male incontinence, urethral minisling for female incontinence, cystocele correction with prosthesis)

The surgical activity of the Urology Ward is aimed at treating benign and malignant tumors with minimally invasive endoscopic, laparoscopic, and robotic techniques.

The particular attention that the Urology Ward dedicates to minimally invasive techniques is strictly related to maximizing the patients’ well-being: shorter hospital stays, reduction of blood loss and post-operative pain, being able to keep the abdominal wall intact, and a higher efficacy with drug treatments.

All of the activities in the ward are done with modern and advanced technology in every area of the minimally invasive urological field. Above all, the Da Vinci Robot, which is the most advanced surgical system in the world, allows minimally invasive laparoscopic operations offering numerous advantages when compared to traditional techniques: 3-dimensional magnified vision (15 times better than the human eye), significant reduction in blood loss and post-operative pain, minimal surgical cuts, shorter hospital stays, quicker return to everyday life. These advantages translate into optimum functional and therapeutic results in many urological operations, especially in radical prostatectomy.

Today, robotic radical prostatectomy is the most commonly used operation for prostate cancer.  In the United States, in fact, more than 85% or prostate tumors are treated with this method.

The growing wide-spread use of this technique is defined by the minimally invasive approach (reduced abdominal incisions), more delicate movements with the help of the ‘endo-wrist’ (a mechanism which reproduces the same movements as the human wrist), less blood loss and post-operative pain (the most part of the patients do not need pain killers after the operation), shorter hospital stays (average is 3 days), and faster recovery of erectile and continence functions.

A new treatment available in the Urology Ward is the HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound). With this method, patients affected by prostate tumors who would otherwise be ineligible for surgical treatments because of age or comorbidity, can be treated with local anaesthesia and be discharged in 24 hours.