Meridian Urology Treatment
Urinary Tract and Male Reproductive Care
Urinary tract disorders and diseases can disrupt your life and keep from
doing what you love. At Anderson, our urology team provides care in a
sensitive environment and works diligently to diagnose your condition
and develop a treatment plan.
Diagnosis and Screening of Urologic Conditions
Urology is a medical specialty that focuses on diseases of the male and
female urinary system. Urologists may use many different tests when diagnosing
or screening for a urologic condition. Because proper urinary function
requires coordination of the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra, urological
symptoms could have many possible causes. Doctors will usually recommend
a variety of diagnostic tests depending on the specific symptoms.
Urine collection and blood tests are commonly the first steps in diagnosing
and screening urologic conditions. Imaging tests such as pyelogram, cystography,
CT scan or ultrasound of the kidney, prostate/rectal sonogram and renal
angiogram provide visibility into the urinary tract to look for blockages,
tumors and other abnormalities. Cystometry and urine flow tests help doctors
assess whether urinary function is normal.
Common Urologic Conditions:
- Overactive bladder is a condition in which the bladder squeezes urine out
at the wrong time. You may have overactive bladder if you have two or
more of these symptoms: You urinate eight or more times a day or two or
more times at night. You have the sudden, strong need to urinate immediately.
- Male and female incontinence is the loss of bladder control. The severity
ranges from occasionally leaking urine when you cough or sneeze to having
an urge to urinate that's so sudden and strong you don't get to a toilet in time.
- Bladder or kidney infections are types of urinary tract infections (UTI).
- Kidney stones are hard, crystalline mineral material formed within the
kidney or urinary tract. Kidney stones are a common cause of blood in
the urine (hematuria) and often severe pain in the abdomen, flank, or groin.
- Kidney Cancer happens when healthy cells in one or both kidneys grow out
of control and form a lump (called a tumor).
- Bladder Cancer develops when cells in the bladder begin to grow abnormally.
Rather than grow and divide in an orderly way, these cells develop mutations
that cause them to grow out of control and not die.
Male Reproductive Procedures
Urologists also specialize in conditions that affect the male reproductive
organs. Common conditions include:
- Circumcision is the surgical removal of the skin covering the tip of the penis.
- Erectile dysfunction is defined as persistent difficulty achieving and
maintaining an erection sufficient to have sex.
- Vasectomy is minor surgery to block sperm from reaching the semen that
is ejaculated from the penis.
- Prostate Cancer is cancer that occurs in the prostate — a small walnut-shaped
gland that produces the seminal fluid that nourishes and transports sperm.