Urology

The Department of Urology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine) was initiated in 1947 by Professor Wang Ligeng, one of the founders of Chinese urology. With a long history and profound academic heritage, and after the unremitting efforts of several generations of urologists, including Professors Wang Ligeng, Zhuang Shouren, Liu Shushuo, and Jiang Shaobo, it has now become a first-class department in the province with distinctive traditional Chinese medicine characteristics, integrating medical care, teaching, and scientific research. In February 2023, Professor Jin Xiaodong was recruited from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine to serve as the academic leader and department director. The department currently has two inpatient wards, Hubin and Qiantang, and includes an Andrology Center, with more than 80 beds in total. There are currently more than 20 physicians, including 5 chief physicians and 5 deputy chief physicians; 1 doctoral supervisor and 5 master's supervisors.

Technical Strengths

The discipline currently comprises four subspecialties: oncology, stone disease, andrology, and urinary control, and is committed to building “a research-oriented discipline centered on minimally invasive surgery and characterized by the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine.” It currently has advanced equipment including a da Vinci surgical robot, a fluorescence 4K ultra-high-definition laparoscopic system, and a Leica microscope. The department routinely performs various high-difficulty and high-risk minimally invasive procedures, mainly including robot-assisted (laparoscopic) urinary system tumor surgeries, such as radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer, radical cystectomy plus orthotopic ileal neobladder reconstruction, partial nephrectomy, and radical nephrectomy for renal cancer; the integrated diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract stones combining traditional Chinese and Western medicine is distinctive. In addition to routinely performing extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy and endoscopic urinary tract stone lithotripsy (using rigid endoscopes, flexible endoscopes, and combined multiple endoscopes), the department also uses traditional Chinese medicine to promote stone expulsion and prevent stone recurrence. Andrology focuses on the integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine diagnosis and treatment of sexual dysfunction, male infertility, and male genital malformations. Procedures performed, including microscopic varicocelectomy, vas deferens–epididymis (vas deferens) anastomosis, testis-sparing resection of testicular tumors, seminal vesiculoscopy, penile prosthesis implantation, and various types of genital plastic surgery, are at an advanced level within the province. The department possesses the province’s first “Dragon Laser” device and an advanced urodynamic testing instrument, and performs specialized treatments such as transurethral resection of the prostate, laser enucleation of the prostate, and urinary incontinence surgery, combined with rapid postoperative rehabilitation using traditional Chinese medicine. The department emphasizes the integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatment and rehabilitation of urological and andrological diseases, fully leveraging the advantages and strengths of the hospital’s equal emphasis on and integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine, as well as the team’s extensive clinical experience and professional knowledge, to provide patients with individualized treatment plans, thereby improving cure rates and quality of life.

Academic Standing

The department is currently a key specialty of the Zhejiang Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a training base for andrologists of the Andrologists Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association’s Physicians Branch of Andrology and Sexual Medicine, and a national clinical drug research base; a leading institution in urology and andrology integrating traditional Chinese and Western medicine in Zhejiang Province; an institution serving as deputy director of the Male Reproductive Medicine Professional Committee of the Chinese Sexology Association, director of the Urology Branch of the Zhejiang Association of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, president of the Andrologists Branch of the Zhejiang Medical Doctor Association, and deputy director of the Andrology Branch of the Zhejiang Medical Association; a demonstration institution of the Chinese Male LUTS Research Collaborative Group, an integrated prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment center of the Chinese Prostate Cancer Alliance, and one of the initiating institutions of the Yangtze River Delta Alliance of Urology Departments of Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospitals; and a postdoctoral station, doctoral program, and master’s program of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University.

Research Achievements

In recent years, the discipline has undertaken more than 10 projects, including General Program projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and key projects of the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation; it has published more than 100 papers, including more than 40 SCI papers, and has received 1 first prize for scientific and technological progress at the provincial or ministerial level, 1 second prize and 2 third prizes for scientific research achievements from provincial departments, and more than 10 national patents. The discipline has trained 3 doctors and more than 40 masters successively.