China's Top Departments: Urology at Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital

If you are facing a urethral stricture, prostate cancer, a kidney tumor, recurrent urinary stones, or incontinence — and especially if you have been told your urethral stricture is too complex to repair — the Department of Urology at Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital is one of the few centers in the world with the volume and the technique to help.

The department was founded in 1954 by Gao Rimu, one of the founding figures of urology in China. Since the 1950s it has been renowned for urinary repair and reconstruction techniques, and it has now widely adopted minimally invasive surgery, especially robot-assisted laparoscopy.

It is a key discipline of the SJTU "Project 211", of the SJTU School of Medicine, and of Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital. It hosts the Shanghai Oriental Institute of Urological Repair and Reconstruction (Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission) and the SJTU Urethral Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center.

At Medora, we help international patients navigate this department. Here's what you need to know.

Structure and Scale

The department is organized into four subspecialties:

1. Urethral Repair/Reconstruction and Andrology
2. Urologic Oncology
3. Urinary Stones
4. BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia) and Urinary Continence

It has received 33 National Natural Science Foundation (NSFC) grants.

Robotic Surgery Program

• First da Vinci procedure: October 2022
• Within two years: 528 robotic procedures
  • 118 urethral reconstruction
  • 224 radical prostatectomy
  • 156 kidney-tumor
  • 30 radical cystectomy

Subspecialty Highlights

1. Urethral Repair/Reconstruction and Andrology (Core Strength)

Since the 1970s the department has built a detailed, standardized approach to urethral reconstruction. It now performs close to 1,000 urethral stricture repair-and-reconstruction procedures per year — described as "currently the single medical center with the largest volume of urethral reconstruction surgery in the world."

World firsts and national firsts:

• First internationally: 3D digital ultrasound model for urethral stricture diagnosis
• ULTRA scoring system
• China's first multicenter, large-sample survey of urethral stricture causes and treatment
• First to clarify post-operative stricture recurrence factors
• Lateral lingual continuous-graft harvesting technique
• Non-transecting urethral anastomosis for posterior urethral stricture
• Bladder-wall flap neck reconstruction
• Pedicled gracilis muscle flap for urethrorectal fistula

Under Prof. Fu Qiang, the department was first in China to perform robot-assisted laparoscopic urinary-tract repair and reconstruction, and now has the highest case volume nationwide, plus a national multicenter study on robotic bladder-neck reconstruction.

Complex reconstruction techniques:

• MINZ procedure (bilateral intestinal ureteral substitution combined with augmentation ileocystoplasty) for post-radiotherapy bilateral ureteral stricture with bladder contracture
• Pubectomy approach with flap reconstruction for complex female urethral stricture with urethrovaginal fistula
• Allium covered stent for ureteral stricture
• First internationally: feasibility of a 3D-printed bionic urethral graft; clinical application of "Ruimo" 3D-printed material for anterior urethral stricture

Andrology:

• Microsurgical autologous testicular transplantation, vasovasostomy, vasoepididymostomy, varicocele ligation
• External genital reconstruction, penile plastic surgery
• Erectile dysfunction after urethral trauma

2. Urologic Oncology

Prostate cancer

• First in China to perform transrectal ultrasound of the prostate
• 1985: pioneered transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsy
• da Vinci radical prostatectomy
• "Posterior reconstruction" + "tubularization of the bladder neck" to improve continence

Kidney cancer

• Robot-assisted radical and partial nephrectomy
• Zero-ischemia partial nephrectomy of a solitary kidney
• Radical nephrectomy for huge renal tumors plus inferior vena cava thrombectomy

Bladder cancer

• Robot-assisted radical cystectomy with ileal conduit
• Laparoscopic radical cystectomy with orthotopic ileal neobladder

Testicular and penile cancer

• Laparoscopic retroperitoneal lymph node dissection
• Complex retroperitoneal tumor surgery

3. Urinary Stones

• Moses laser, high-power holmium laser, pneumatic/ultrasonic (EMS) lithotripsy
• Mini- and standard-tract PCNL (percutaneous nephrolithotomy)
• 3D-printed renal puncture navigation module
• Ultrasound-CT fusion
• "Dual-scope" combined surgery for bilateral kidney stones in a single session
• Latest-generation stone analyzer
• Urosepsis protocols

4. BPH and Urinary Continence

• Transurethral laser enucleation (Moses high-power laser; "Youlu" thulium-holmium integrated laser)
• Among the first in China: autologous rectus abdominis muscle-flap bulbourethral suspension; bulbourethral composite suspension under urethral pressure monitoring; artificial urinary sphincter implantation
• Robot-assisted bladder-neck reconstruction
• Minimally invasive urethral suspension for female stress incontinence
• Sacral neuromodulation
• Since the 1980s: among the first in China to perform continent and orthotopic neobladder procedures

Expert Team

Research and Honors

• 33 NSFC grants
• 150+ papers in urethral reconstruction, including 50+ SCI papers, with 22 cited by European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines
• 10+ papers in Advanced Materials, European Urology and The Journal of Urology
• Led the 2022 Chinese Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Urological and Andrological Diseases — Urethral Stricture
• First Prize for Science and Technology Progress of the Ministry of Education
• Two Second Prizes of the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award
• Two Second Prizes of the Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award
• First Prize of the Shanghai Medical Science and Technology Award
• Hosts the annual Urethral Reconstruction Training Week (several hundred physicians trained)

Patient Information

Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital

• Xuhui Campus (main): 600 Yishan Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai
• Lingang Campus: 222 Huanhu West 3rd Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai

Shanghai is served by two international airports — Pudong International Airport (PVG) and Hongqiao International Airport (SHA) — and the Xuhui Campus is in the city center.

---

This guide is prepared for Central Asian and international patients. If you need assistance with medical consultation, appointment booking, or travel arrangements to Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital's Department of Urology, contact Medora for personalized support.