Cystodistension is increasingly popular, despite a weak evidence base by current standards. The quality of available evidence falls below the level that would be expected of a new intervention. This review highlights the need for cystodistension to be further investigated with randomised control trials.

The performance of mobile ESWL was significantly poorer than expected, and this may be related to a lack of clinical ownership. The authors believe that such a service should be permanently placed on site.

Objective: The Joint Committee of Surgical Training guidelines for the award of a Certificate of Completion of Training in urology were updated in 2015. In 2015, we published operative logbook data from Certificate of Completion of Training in urology applications in 2010-2012 in line with the original 2011 guidelines. This study reviewed a contemporary cohort against the 2015 guidelines and this previous cohort to evaluate whether the number of trainees achieving these requirements had changed.

A previously well 18-year-old male presented with a 3-day history of vomiting, abdominal pain and increasing neck swelling. X-rays demonstrated both pneumomediastinum and cervical surgical emphysema and initial efforts were centred upon excluding Boerhaave syndrome (vomiting-induced oesophageal rupture). Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and contrast CT scans excluded breech of the oesophagus but did, however, confirm dilated small bowel. Over the days, his condition did not improve, repeat CT demonstrated worsening small bowel dilatation and he eventually underwent laparotomy on day 5 of his admission. This revealed a high-grade obstruction in the right iliac fossa (presumably from a previous appendicectomy). Following adhesiolysis, he made a full recovery from both small bowel obstruction and surgical emphysema.

Objective: Perioperative hypothermia is an important consideration for all surgical specialties, but susceptibility may vary between them. Current guidance on prevention of this does not differentiate between specialties. We hypothesise that in core endourological surgery, the use of warmed irrigation sufficiently protects patients from hypothermia and that forced air warming (FAW) does not provide any added benefit. Materials and methods: Between November 2015 and January 2016, all case notes were reviewed for patients who had undergone core urological procedures. Data collated included age, body mass index, procedure length, perioperative temperatures and warming methods used. The sample population was stratified according to warming devices used. The difference in temperature change between groups was assessed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and in specific groups using the Student’s t-test. Perioperative hypothermia was defined as a finishing temperature < 36.0°C or a temperature drop of greater that 1.0°C. Results: Perioperative hypothermia occurred in 2 out of 226 patients, both from those receiving FAW, warmed irrigation and warmed intravenous (IV) fluid. No significant difference was noted between all groups in terms of absolute temperature change (ANOVA P = 0.111). Furthermore, there was no significant change in absolute temperature when comparing groups with FAW, warmed irrigation and warmed IV fluid with those with warmed irrigation and warmed IV fluid alone. Conclusion: The routine use of FAW in core endourological surgery may not be necessary. In most procedures, particularly those of short duration, there appears to be no added benefit in using FAW in combination with warmed irrigation and IV fluid. Level of evidence: 3b