Urology

What Services Do We Provide?

Urology is the medical specialty that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the male and female urinary system and the male reproductive organs. A urologist performs vasectomies for men who no longer wish to have children and treat problems of the kidneys, adrenal glands, urinary bladder and male reproductive organs. Because the urinary and reproductive tracts are anatomically linked, problems with one tract often affect the other. Some of the most common urologic conditions we treat include:

Contact our Urology Department: 641.494.5280

Male Sexual Dysfunction and Infertility

The urology team at Mason City Clinic offers leading-edge treatments for men who are experiencing erectile dysfunction (ED) and infertility. ED affects men of all ages but most commonly after age 40.

ED, or impotence, is the inability to get and keep an erection hard enough for sex. Having occasional erection trouble isn’t necessarily a cause for worry. But when erectile dysfunction is an ongoing problem, it causes stress and relationship problems and hurts your self-confidence. Problems achieving or maintaining an erection can be signs of some underlying health condition that requires treatment. It is also a risk factor for heart disease.

If you’re concerned about ED, talk to your doctor – even if you’re embarrassed. Remember than many men experience this problem. Don’t let embarrassment keep you from a solution. By treating an underlying condition, we can sometimes reverse erectile dysfunction. At other times, a solution can be found in medications or other direct treatments.

Male infertility

Infertility affects about 13 percent of couples who have unprotected sex for at least one year. Of these, about one-third are specifically male infertility problems. There are many possible causes for male infertility:

• Abnormal sperm production
• Sperm delivery problems
• Damage related to cancer treatment
• Overexposure to environmental factors (smoking, alcohol, marijuana, certain medications, frequent heat exposure, etc.)
• Obesity or underweight
• Lack of sufficient exercise

Treatments for male infertility include:

• Surgery – A varicocele can be surgically corrected. An obstructed vas deferens can be repaired and prior vasectomies can be reversed. When there are no sperm in ejaculate, sperm can often be retrieved directly from the testes using advanced retrieval techniques.
• Treatment for Infection – Antibiotic treatment might cure an infection of the reproductive tract, but it cannot always restore fertility.
• Treatment for Sexual Intercourse Problems – Medication or counseling can help improve conditions such as erectile dysfunction or premature ejaculation.
• Hormone Therapies and Medications – We might recommend hormone replacement therapy or certain medications in cases where infertility is caused by high or low levels of certain hormones or problems with the way your body uses hormones.
• Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) – ART treatment involves obtaining sperm through normal ejaculation, surgical extraction or from donor individuals. These sperm are inserted into the female genital tract or used for in vitro fertilization or intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

Common Bladder Conditions

The kidneys filter waste products out of the bloodstream and make urine, which drains into the bladder. When the bladder fills, nerves send a message to the brain and you feel an urge to urinate. Sphincters and pelvic floor muscles keep urine inside the bladder until you reach a toilet. When you urinate, these muscles relax, the main bladder muscle contracts and urine leaves the body through the urethra.

Certain diseases, medications, infections, chronic behaviors or other factors such as vaginal delivery and menopause can disrupt this process and make people lose control of when they urinate. This group of conditions is called urinary incontinence (UI). The most common forms of UI are:

• Stress Incontinence – Leakage of urine during an activity, such as playing sports, laughing or lifting. Abdominal pressure forces the urethra open.
• Urge Incontinence, also known as Overactive Bladder (OAB) – Leakage occurs after a sudden urge to urinate. Urine is squeezed out of the bladder before it has filled, too frequently and/or at inappropriate times.
• Overflow Incontinence – Leakage of urine when the bladder fills beyond capacity.
• Functional Incontinence – A person cannot reach a toilet in time because of one or more physical problem, such as injury or arthritis.
• Mixed Incontinence – A person experiences symptoms from more than one type of incontinence.

• Incontinence – The kidneys filter waste products out of the bloodstream to create urine, which drains into the bladder. When the bladder fills, nerves send a message to the brain so you feel an urge to urinate. Sphincters and pelvic floor muscles keep urine inside the bladder until you reach a toilet. When you urinate, these muscles relax, the main bladder muscle contracts and urine leaves the body through the urethra. If this process is disrupted, such as from a condition or medication, a person can lose control of his/her bladder. This is called urinary incontinence (UI).

Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer is a chronic disease that affects the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Tumors can form when the body creates new cells that aren’t needed or when old cells don’t die when they’re supposed to. The tumor may be cancerous or benign. Cancerous cells may develop on the inner lining of the bladder wall. This is referred to as superficial bladder cancer. If the cancer spreads through the lining, it becomes invasive cancer.

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Treatment

The prostate is a gland that is only found in men. It is located just below the bladder surrounding the urethra, which carries urine from the bladder to the penis. Some men over the age of 50 have an enlarged prostate. One of the reasons for an enlarged prostate is benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). BPH is not a form of prostate cancer and does not lead to prostate cancer. For some men with BPH, the enlarged prostate puts pressure on the urethra.

Treatments available for BPH:

• UroLIFT® System – The UroLift® Sytstem is a minimally invasive approach to treating BPH that lifts and hold the enlarged prostate tissue out of the way so it no longer blocks the urethra. It is the only BPH procedure that does not require ongoing BPH medication, cutting, heating or removal of the prostate tissue. Want to know more? Click here

Kidney Stones

Kidney stones are a common but painful urinary tract disorder that affects over 3 million people in the United States each year. A kidney stone is a hardened mass of mineral and acid salts that separates from the urine and travels through the urinary tract. The urine normally dilutes and dissolves these substances, but when the composition of urine is unbalanced, crystallized kidney stones can form.

Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in men, affecting one out of every six men in the US. This disease affects the prostate, the golf ball-sized gland located under the bladder and in front of the rectum. This gland helps produce semen and allows for sperm to move more effectively, along with several other functions. Although this disease can be life-threatening and is a scary diagnosis to receive, many cases of prostate cancer spread slowly and may only require minimal treatment. When confined to the prostate gland, this disease can usually be treated effectively, making early detection crucial for handling prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer screening

There are currently two methods of screening for prostate cancer. These consist of the digital rectal examination and the prostate-specific antigen blood test. These tests are generally performed on men aged 40 to 60 who have exhibited symptoms of prostate cancer.

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test

This is a special blood test that determines if the individual has elevated levels of PSA in his blood. Normal levels of PSA in men are anywhere between 0-4.0 nanograms per milliliter, while anything above the upper limit of 4.0 is considered a “positive” test and should be tended to immediately. It is important to note that PSA levels can be increased by other factors such as prostate infection, benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and recent ejaculation. This leads to a high frequency of positive results.

Urinary Tract Infection

Urinary tract infection is a common infection of the urinary system, which includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra. The urinary tract refers to just the bladder and the urethra, and an infection can develop in either of these areas. These infections occur much more frequently in women than in men and can cause intense pain.

Vasectomies

Our urologists perform the latest, state-of-the-art no-scalpel vasectomies, medical sterilization procedures for men who are sure they no longer want children. Vasectomy is over 99 percent effective at sterilization and lasts permanently. The simple surgery is performed in the office or clinic. The surgeons cut or block off the small tubes in the scrotum that carry sperm so the sperm cannot leave the body and cause pregnancy. The procedure can be done in a matter of minutes, either with an incision or with the no-scalpel, no-cut method, and the patient can go home that day.

The no-scalpel method reduces the risk of infection and other complications, and it typically takes less time to heal.

Why Us?

Our board-certified urology team are all clinical assistant professors of urologic surgery at the University of Iowa. They have more than 60 years of combined experience, including a fellowship in laparoscopy, minimally invasive surgery and robotic surgery. They have contributed to numerous publications, presentations and research and have served as faculty or speakers at conferences across the country. Together, they deliver the highest-quality urologic care for our patients.

To learn more about our urology services, please call 641.494.5280 today or use our online form to schedule an appointment. Our urology patients come to us from Albert Lea, Algona, Belmond, Britt, Buffalo Center, Charles City, Clarion, Cresco, Emmetsburg, Forest City, Garner, Greene, Hampton, Iowa Falls, Lake Mills, Mason City, New Hampton, Northwood, Osage, Waverly and close-by areas.