requiring surgery were offered either a glanspreserving or a glans-removing procedure. RESULTSOf the 78 patients referred, 49 required surgery, with penile-preserving procedures in 39 of them; 32 were newly diagnosed tumours and seven were recurrences after radiotherapy. The tumour grade and stage were G1 in 11, G2 in 17 and G3 in 10 (one had melanoma and was not graded); and Ta in two, T1 in 19, T2 in 17 and T3 in one. The mean follow-up was 16 months, with nine patients followed for ≥ 2 years. Complications included two patients who required immediate revisional surgery for positive resection margins, and one with radio-necrosis. One patient who had a glans-preserving procedure developed a recurrence, whereas none of those who had the glans removed did so. CONCLUSIONWith careful patient selection and meticulous follow-up, most patients with invasive penile carcinoma can be offered penile-preserving surgery.

OBJECTIVE To determine the incidence of balanitis xerotica obliterans (BXO) in a consecutive series of penile carcinomas in one centre, as BXO is a common penile disease that usually involves the prepuce and glans, and there have been sporadic case reports of the association between BXO and penile carcinoma, although it is uncertain if there is a specific causal relationship. PATIENTS AND METHODS The reported incidence of penile carcinoma in patients with BXO is 2.6–5.8%, leading some to advocate circumcision in all cases, with close follow‐up in those with persistent glanular disease. We prospectively analysed all cases of penile cancer referred to the unit over a 54‐month period, to determine the prevalence of BXO. RESULTS In all, 155 patients with penile malignancy were reviewed, 44 of whom had BXO (28%). This group included 34 men with squamous cell carcinoma and 10 with carcinoma in situ; in 39, BXO and malignancy presented synchronously. In three other cases, cancer occurred in the background of chronic persistent BXO; in two cases penile cancer was truly metachronous. The tumours with associated BXO tended to be of lower stage and grade, and the patients presented when younger, but this was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION A significant proportion of patients with penile malignancy have a histological diagnosis of BXO. We think that patients presenting with long‐standing BXO and those in whom BXO has not resolved after circumcision warrant biopsies and a careful follow‐up.

haematuria, rectal bleeding and haematospermia were recorded. The questionnaire also directed the patient to record fevers, use of analgesia and any further treatment received. RESULTSIn all, 36 patients took aspirin whilst the other 141 did not. There were no major complications in either group. Of the patients on aspirin, 20 (56%) had haematuria, compared with 83 (59%) of those not taking aspirin (difference 3%, 95% confidence interval, CI, -15 to 21). Overall bleeding (haematuria, rectal bleeding and haematospermia) occurred in 22 patients (61%) of the aspirin group and 105 (74%) of the other group (difference 13%, 95% CI -4 to 31). Comparisons of other morbidities between the groups are also discussed. CONCLUSIONSThere was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of haematuria or overall bleeding after biopsy between the groups. There is no evidence that aspirin needs to be discontinued before sextant prostate biopsy.

No abstract

Patients are living longer with an increasing number of co-morbidities. Minimally invasive ureterorenoscopy (URS) to manage upper tract calculi or transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) can be performed under general or spinal anaesthesia, however certain co-morbid patients are not suitable for this and may benefit from a different approach. We report on URS under local anaesthesia (LA) using intra-ureteric marcaine as the primary form of anaesthesia. We also aimed to perform a robust systematic review of this topic.   A retrospective analysis over 6 years was undertaken on all patients who underwent URS for calculi or TCC under LA, with the use of intra-urethral lidocaine gel (2%) and intra-ureteric marcaine (0.5%, 20ml) with sedoanalgesia as an adjunct. A systematic review and all English Language articles on ureteroscopic procedures with the use of LA with or without intravenous sedoanalgesia were selected and data extracted.   In our case series, twelve patients had a total of 42 procedures. Stone size varied from 4-35mm. Twenty-two percent of procedures (9/41) did not require any sedation or intravenous analgesia as an adjunct to the bupivacaine with a further 49% (20/41) requiring midazolam. (The anaesthetic chart was not available for one procedure). No procedures were abandoned and there were no conversions to general/spinal anaesthesia. There were no complications secondary to the use of LA. Eighty-one percent of cases (34/42) were performed as day-case or overnight stays. The complication rate was similar to that for conventional anaesthesia. The systematic review yielded 1121 procedures from 11 papers and 7 countries. In 32 cases the procedure was converted to general anaesthesia.  Stone clearance rates were between 78-100%. The procedures were well tolerated in 80-90% of cases.   This study highlights that URS can be safely performed under LA. It is well tolerated and represents an option for carefully selected patients who have been adequately counselled, and who would be at high risk from anaesthesia. Such patients may otherwise be considered “unfit” for endourological intervention.