Department of Urology - Hirslanden Clinic Aarau

About the Department of Urology at Hirslanden Clinic Aarau

The Department of Urology at the Hirslanden Clinic Aarau offers the full range of medical services in the area of its specialization. The department’s competence covers the treatment of diseases of the prostate gland, kidneys, adrenal glands, bladder, ureters, urethra, penis and testicles. The department's urologists mostly have to deal with such pathologies as prostate cancer, bladder cancer, urinary incontinence, erectile dysfunction and kidney stone disease. The therapeutic offer is complemented by prostate preventive examinations, as well as a vasectomy procedure, if the man does not plan to have children in the future. The department is headed by Dr. med. Martin Christian Schumacher.

Long clinical experience of the department's medical team, as well as the use of state-of-the-art medical equipment, ensure top-class treatment results. These innovations include minimally invasive surgery using the da Vinci surgical system, brachytherapy, etc. Robot-assisted surgery is actively used in the treatment of prostate cancer, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, ureteral tumors, as well as for reconstructive interventions. Such operations have several advantages: minimal blood loss, reduced risk of complications, less pronounced pain syndrome, speedy recovery and return to normal everyday life. The da Vinci surgical system has been used in the department since February 2011, so the specialists working with this device have extensive experience and excellent skills, which ensure perfect treatment results. The Chief Physician of the department, Dr. med. Martin Christian Schumacher, performed more than 1,500 interventions using this surgical system.

The department's specialists practice an interdisciplinary approach to treatment, and therefore they cooperate closely with oncologists, radiation therapists and other doctors. Such approach plays a particularly important role in the treatment of urological cancers – the experts discuss each clinical case at the tumor boards and jointly develop the optimal treatment regimen for a particular patient. Upon the completion of the treatment course, the patients undergo an outpatient rehabilitation program, which allows them to completely recover and consolidate the achieved result.

The department's range of medical services includes:

• Diagnostics and treatment of prostate cancer
  • Surgery using da Vinci surgical system (total removal of the prostate gland with seminal vesicles and lymph nodes in the pelvis)
  • Radiation therapy (often in combination with androgen blockade)
  • Brachytherapy (radioactive "seeds" are placed directly into the tumor and slowly release radiation energy for several months in order to destroy cancer cells)
• Diagnostics and treatment of testicular cancer
  • Surgical treatment
  • Chemotherapy
  • Radiation therapy
• Diagnostics and treatment of penile cancer
  • Surgical removal of the tumor (laser removal can be performed for small tumors)
  • Chemotherapy
  • Radiation therapy
• Diagnostics and treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia
  • Drug treatment
  • RezumTM therapy (minimally invasive water vapor therapy)
• Diagnostics and treatment of bladder cancer
  • Surgical treatment
    • Transurethral resection of the bladder tumor
    • Radical cystectomy (bladder removal) with the formation of an artificial bladder (for example, from the ileal tissues)
    • Chemotherapy
    • Immunotherapy (in the presence of metastases)
    • Local irradiation of single metastases
• Diagnostics and treatment of kidney cancer
  • Surgical treatment
  • Chemotherapy
  • Radiation therapy
• Diagnostics and treatment of urinary incontinence
  • Surgical treatment
  • Conservative treatment
• Diagnostics and treatment of erectile dysfunction
• Diagnostics and treatment of kidney stones
  • Endoscopic interventions
    • Ureterorenoscopy
    • Percutaneous nephrolithotripsy
  • Surgical treatment using da Vinci robot (for large stones only)
  • Drug therapy
  • Extracorporeal shock wave therapy
• Other medical services