Urology

Urology is the field of medicine that focuses on the urinary tracts of males and females, and on the reproductive system of males. In men, the urinary system overlaps with the reproductive system, and in women the urinary tract opens into the vulva. In both sexes, the urinary and reproductive tracts are close together, and disorders of one often affect the other. The organs covered by urology include the kidneys, ureters, urinary bladder, urethra, and the male reproductive organs (testes, epididymis, vas deferens, seminal vesicles, prostate and penis).

St. Vincent Hospital has four MD urologists on board and offers all the new technologies in urology such as lithotripsy, a procedure that uses shock waves to break kidney stones into tiny fragments.  A lithotriptor is a medical device used in the non-invasive treatment of kidney stones (urinary calculosis) and biliary calculi (stones in the gallbladder or in the liver). The scientific name of this procedure is Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL). Lithotripsy was developed in the early 1980s, and came into widespread use with the introduction of the HM-3 lithotriptor in 1983. Within a few short years, ESWL revolutionized treatment of calculosis. It is estimated that more than one million patients are treated annually with ESWL in the USA alone.