Clinical Outlook in 2023

Ureteral stents are useful devices for urological management in pregnancy. However, stent encrustation occurs in up to 13% of patients and is related to increased indwelling time. Stent encrustation can be harmful for both the mother and the fetus, increasing their morbidity and mortality. Thus, whether prevention or cure is more cost effective is pertinent.

The heterogeneous nature of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer is a challenge for clinical trial design. Careful consideration in clinical trial design, choice of end points and adequate patient characterization is important when evaluating new therapies.

High intensity theatre (HIT) lists are an efficient and effective measure to tackle elective surgery backlogs without compromising outcomes and safety compared with traditional elective lists. A recent pilot trial in standard and complex urological surgery at a tertiary hospital in the UK proved successful for both the patients and the staff involved.

Focal ablative therapy has emerged as a treatment option in radio-recurrent prostate cancer to obtain local control of disease and spare patients severe salvage-treatment-related complications. Irreversible electroporation holds the potential to become the standard ablative modality in prostate cancer owing to reliable ablation results, the electricity-based effect and an acceptable adverse-effect profile.