Okan ALKIŞ

and 5 more

Objectives: Transcutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation (TTNS) is a non-invasive method used in OAB treatment. We aimed to compare the effectiveness of the once a week and three times a week TTNS procedure in women diagnosed with wet type refractory OAB. Methods: A total of 60 patients diagnosed with wet type OAB was refractory to medical treatment included in the study. Participants were equally and randomly divided into two groups: TTNS treatment was performed with a time duration of 30 minutes for 12 weeks, once a week to Groıp-I and three times a week to Group-II. Pre and post-treatment OAB-V8/ICIQ-SF scores and voiding frequencies recorded in the bladder diary were compared between groups. Results: Four patients in Group-1 and eight in Group-2 left the study without completing the treatment. TTNS was performed in both groups for 12 weeks. There was a significant decrease in the voiding frequency, OAB-V8, ICIQ-SF scores in both group-1 and group-2 (p<0.001). A significant decrease in the OAB-V8 score was observed in the 5th week in Group-1, and on the 3rd week in group-2. Complete response was observed in 6 patients (23.1%) in Group-1 after 12 weeks of TTNS procedure. In group-2, 10 patients (45.5%) had a complete response. After the 12-week TTNS procedure, no significant difference was observed between the groups in terms of treatment response. Conclusion: TTNS can be safely used before invasive treatments in resistant OAB. TTNS procedure three times a week seems more effective than performing it once a week.

Ozan Bozkurt

and 52 more

Objective: To present a nation-wide analysis of the workload of urology departments in Turkey week-by-week during Covid-19 pandemic. Methodology: The centers participating in the study were divided into three groups as tertiary referral centers, state hospitals and private practice hospitals. The number of outpatients, inpatients, daily interventions and urological surgeries were recorded prospectively between 9-March-2020 and 31-May-2020. All these variables were recorded for the same time interval of 2019 as well. The weekly change of the workload of urology during pandemic period was evaluated; also the workload of urology and the distributions of certain urological surgeries were compared between the pandemic period and the same time interval of the year 2019. Results: A total of 51 centers participated in the study. The number of outpatients, inpatients, urological surgeries and daily interventions were found to be dramatically decreased by the third week of pandemics in state hospitals and tertiary referral centers; however the daily urological practice were similar in private practice hospitals throughout the pandemic period. When the workload of urology in pandemic period and the same time interval of the year 2019 were compared; a huge decrease was observed in all variables during pandemic period. However, temporary measures like ureteral stenting, nephrostomy placement and percutaneous cystostomy have been found to increase during Covid-19 pandemic compared to normal life. Conclusions: Covid-19 pandemic significantly effected the routine daily urological practice likewise other subspecialties and priority was given to emergent and non-deferrable surgeries by urologists in concordance with published clinical guidelines.