New trends in minimally invasive urological surgery.
OBJECTIVE
The perceived benefits of minimally-invasive surgery include less postoperative pain, shorter hospitalization, reduced morbidity and better cosmesis while maintaining diagnostic accuracy and therapeutic outcome. We review the new trends in minimally-invasive urological surgery.


METHODS
We reviewed the English language literature using the National Library of Medicine database to identify the latest technological advances in minimally-invasive surgery with particular reference to urology.


RESULTS
Amongst other advances, studies incorporating needlescopic surgery, laparoendoscopic single-site surgery , magnetic anchoring and guidance systems, natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery and flexible robots were considered of interest. The results from initial animal and human studies are also outlined.


CONCLUSIONS
Minimally-invasive surgery continues to evolve to meet the demands of the operators and patients. Many novel technologies are still in the testing phase, whilst others have entered clinical practice. Further evaluation is required to confirm the safety and efficacy of these techniques and validate the published reports.
Rajan
Prabhakar
P
Section of Surgery, Division of Cancer Sciences and Molecular Pathology, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom.
Turna
Burak
B
D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods; D012371:Robotics / Q000639:trends; D014570:Urologic Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D013520:Urologic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends