This textbook seeks to determine the current state-of-the-art of reconstructive urethral surgery and to identify new trends in this subspecialty of reconstructive urology. To this end, internationally known experts and opinion leaders in the field were invited to Hamburg, Germany to discuss and demonstrate todays commonly used surgical techniques.
Dialogues that took place during this convention, held in the spring of 2001 at the General Hospital in Hamburg-Harburg, are presented in book chapter format in this volume. The text is rounded out by live recordings of the most important of the surgical procedures. (DVD included with this compendium.)
Our desire was to publish, in close collaboration with Springer, a surgical textbook that presents the most important basic and modern techniques in urethral surgery These techniques are underscored with simple and instructive drawings and »live surgery« video clips. We consciously chose not to make the text an all-inclusive surgical text. Thus the techniques included reflect a deliberate subjective selection on the part of the editors. We focused on the »renaissance« of graft techniques. Much of the material is concentrated on buccal mucosal and preputial grafts Two-stage surgical techniques, particularly for complex cases or patients who have undergone multiple previous operations, are also included.
This book is written for all urologists. It is intended to be an easily understandable and useful tool for their daily work, by giving them practical, clear, and reproducible accounts of the surgical techniques shown. In doing so, we hope it becomes an important part of reconstructive urology surgeons' libraries.