Preface

As a surgical trainee in the 80’s, I was taught that exposure of the operative field was the most important principle of pediatric surgery. The incision, I was informed, must be large to permit an adequate view of the operative field. In one sense, nothing has changed: exposure of the surgical field is still extremely important. Yet the way this exposure is achieved has changed dramatically. Thanks to the advent of minimally invasive surgery (MIS), optiques and imaging techniques are now often used rather than scalpels. Paradoxically, these new approaches through small incisions give us better visibility because of the magnification provided by endoscopes. As a further benefit, the small incisions greatly reduce the morbidity of surgery. This change has been part of the development of a new subspecialty known as endourology-closed controlled manipulation within the genitourinary tract. It might be said that endourology was launched in 1980 at that year’s meeting of American Urological Association.