Welcome from the Editor

Urology has long been firmly established as a distinct subspecialty in the field of surgery. Furthermore, there are now distinct ‘super-subspecialties’, such as reconstructive urology, renal transplantation, endourology, urooncology and paediatric urology. All these ‘super subspecialties’ are changing very rapidly. More than a century ago urology constituted a small component of surgery and was included with general surgery. Historically there was a transformation of urology, credited to Ambroise Parre’ and John Hunter, and they are still regarded as the founders of urology. Urological disorders now form a large proportion of surgical disorders, and rank highest among the main surgical complaints. Urological instruments have developed from the basic cystoscope to very sophisticated high-resolution flexible urological endoscopes and laparoscopic equipment; these now come with excellent optics. Then came the Da Vinci robot and telesurgery; the list of innovations is endless. All these have made urology an extremely exciting discipline that is the envy of other surgical disciplines. Because of these discoveries that aid in urosurgery, the urological academic community should document these and future changes with precision. In this regard the quality of urosurgery, research and publications is bound to come under the ‘scientific microscope’ of scrutiny. Research and subsequent publications must now be well designed, evidence-based, and above all factual. They must be relevant to the needs of the urological patient, and add value to the knowledge of urology. This is the only way forward.