Survey of the Best Medical Imaging Techniques Applied to Detect Urological Pathologies: Case of Lebanese Health Sector

Abstract

In recent years, medical imaging has made a huge progress in urology. Several diagnostic hypotheses are proposed after a clinical examination, and to select the right diagnosis, one calls upon the complementary examinations, and the imaging comes at first hand, playing a distinguished role. There are different imaging techniques that aid in the exploration of the urinary tract: KUB (Kidney, Ureter, Bladder) radiograph, ultrasound, IVU (IntraVenous Urography), Computed Tomography Urography (Uro-Scan) and Magnetic Resonance Urography (Uro-MRI). Due to the diversity of examinations that allow the diagnosis of different urinary pathologies, there is an importance and a responsibility to choose the most optimal radiological examination for diagnosis of the disease while ensuring the protection and the comfort of the patient during the examination. Thus, the aim of this work is to enquire about the technique used to detect the urological pathologies and to show the most adequate technique for each pathology. For that, a survey was conducted over radiologists, urologists as well as emergency physicians, in hospitals and medical centers, throughout the Lebanese territories. The results found can be summarized by the following points: (1) Uro-Scan is the technique that replaced the IVU, (2) there is a lack of knowledge, use and training on the Uro-MRI technique and (3) the optimal examination technique for almost all urological pathologies is the Uro-Scan.