Use of new technology in endourology and laparoscopy by American urologists: Internet and postal survey

Objectives. To assess the use of new technology by American urologists. Methods. Using the American Urological Association directory, surveys were sent via the U.S. postal service to 1000 randomly selected American urologi sts and 3065 urologists who had an Internet address listed in the directory . Results, Responses were received from 601 urologists (415 postal, 186 Inter net), Overall, 81% of survey respondents reported performing fewer or the s ame number of percutaneous procedures as compared with 3 to 4 years ago and 84% reported carrying out more or the same number of ureteroscopic procedu res in the treatment of patients with stone disease. Open dismembered pyelo plasty (43%) and Acucise endopyelotomy (42%) were most frequently reported as the preferred treatment for adult patients with symptomatic ureteropelvi c junction obstruction. Although 60% of respondents reported that they have taken a laparoscopy course, 67% currently do not perform any laparoscopy i n their practice. In addition, only 7% of urologists stated that laparoscop y comprises more than 5% of their practice. When stratified by the number o f years in practice, those in practice less than 10 years were more likely than those in practice 10 to 20 years and those in practice longer than 20 years to have performed an endopyelotomy (77%, 60%, and 48%, respectively, P <0.001) and to be currently performing laparoscopy (49%, 36%, and 18%, re spectively, P <0.001). Conclusions. Compared with 3 to 4 years ago, American urologists are perfor ming more ureteroscopy and fewer percutaneous stone procedures. Although mo st urologists have taken laparoscopy courses, this modality has not been wi dely incorporated into their practices at present. UROLOGY 56: 760-765, 200 0. (C) 2000, Elsevier Science Inc.