About Scope and Passage

Many urinary-tract procedures are done through a body opening that already exists, with a thin scope and no large cut. That makes them sound simple, and it also makes the words around them hard: ureteroscopy, resection, enucleation, lithotripsy. This atlas puts each procedure on a single card, in the same order every time, so that you can find the part you need and compare one procedure with another.

Who it is for

There are two kinds of reader in mind. The first is someone who has been told that a procedure is being considered, or has already had one, and wants to understand it before or after a conversation with their care team. The second is a student or trainee who wants a clear first map before moving on to textbooks and guidelines. Both are served by the same cards: the plain account first, the sources at the foot for anyone who wants the originals.

How it is organized

The cards sit in three drawers. The stones drawer covers scopes, lasers, a channel through the back, stents and shock waves. The bladder and prostate drawer covers looking inside the bladder, removing tumors and blocking tissue, and treatments for bladder control and a narrowed urethra. The recovery drawer covers catheters, pelvic floor training and rehabilitation. A glossary defines the terms.

What it is not

This is an independent educational publication written by its editors. It is not a medical practice, a hospital, a company, a professional body, a journal or an agency, and it is not affiliated with any practice, company, society or agency. It offers no services, takes no appointments, sells nothing and cannot give personal advice. Mentioning a public body or a type of device describes it and does not endorse it.

Nothing on the cards is medical advice. A procedure that suits one person may not suit another, and techniques, equipment and aftercare differ between hospitals. Your own clinician has the final word. How the pages are researched and corrected is described in how we check facts.