Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Viewpoint
  • Published:

Which pediatric urological conditions can be handled by adult urologists?

Nature Clinical Practice Urology volume 2, pages 152–153 (2005)Cite this article

It is many years since a surgeon was considered able to operate on anybody and that children were no different from adults except in size. We now accept that sick children must be cared for in a dedicated environment, either in a separate hospital, or in a specialized children's section of a bigger institution.

It follows from this that surgeons who operate on children must have undergone appropriate training. They must be supported by anesthetists and nurses who have also been trained in pediatric care. If we accept these precepts, we should also accept that a urologist who is not working full-time in pediatrics must still have a large enough practice to maintain the skills that were learnt in pediatric surgical training. It is very unlikely that such a surgeon would be competent to operate on neonates, or to take part in a pediatric surgical emergency rota. In hospitals that do have a large pediatric surgical practice, it is unlikely that much competition from 'amateurs' would be tolerated.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Berkowitz GS et al. (1993) Prevalence and natural history of cryptorchidism. Pediatrics 92: 44–49

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Lee PA et al. (1995) Paternity after cryptorchidism: lack of correlation with age at orchiopexy. Br J Urol 75: 704–707

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Hadziselimovic F and Herzog B (2001) The importance of both an early orchidopexy and germ cell maturation for fertility. Lancet 358: 1156–1157

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Huff DS et al. (2001) Abnormal germ cell development in cryptorchidism. Horm Res 55: 11–17

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Whitfield HN (1999) Circumcision. Br J Urol Int 83 (Suppl 1): 1–113

    Google Scholar 

  6. Hata S et al. (2004) Preoperative sonographic evaluation is a useful method of detecting contralateral patent processus vaginalis in pediatric patients with unilateral inguinal hernia. J Pediatr Surg 39: 1396–1399

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Matsuda T et al. (1992) Unilateral obstruction of the vas deferens caused by childhood inguinal herniorrhaphy in male infertility patients. Fertil Steril 58: 609–613

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Reader in Adolescent Urology at The Institute of Urology, University College, London, UK

    Christopher RJ Woodhouse

Authors
  1. Christopher RJ Woodhouse
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher RJ Woodhouse.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Woodhouse, C. Which pediatric urological conditions can be handled by adult urologists?. Nat Rev Urol 2, 152–153 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpuro0146

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpuro0146

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing