Areas of Expertise
Dr. Scott Kahn is a board certified urologist, able to diagnose and treat all urological conditions; however, he has a special interest and is exceptionally skilled in the following areas:
Bladder Cancer
Dr. Kahn is a top surgeon, treating patients with bladder cancer for more than 25 years. Bladder cancer is the 6th most common cancer in the United States. Nearly 81,000 people will be diagnosed in the United States with bladder cancer in 2019. Bladder cancer is more common in males than females. Four times more men than women tend to get this disease.
Bladder cancer is more common as a person grows older. It is found most often in the age group of 75-84.
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is an enlarged prostate. The prostate goes through two main growth periods as a man ages. The first occurs early in puberty, when the prostate doubles in size. The second phase of growth begins around age 25 and continues during most of a man’s life. As you age, your prostate may get larger. Benign prostatic hyperplasia often occurs with the second growth phase.
As the prostate enlarges, it can then squeeze down on your urethra. The bladder wall becomes thicker. Eventually, the bladder may weaken and lose the ability to empty completely, leaving some urine in the bladder. The narrowing of the urethra and urinary retention–the inability to empty the bladder completely–cause many of the problems associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia. BPH is benign. This means it is not cancer. It does not cause nor lead to cancer. But BPH and cancer can happen at the same time.
BPH is common in aging men. About half of all men between the ages of 51 and 60 have BPH. Up to 90% of men over age 80 have BPH.
If you are having challenges in this area, rest assured that Dr. Kahn has been successfully treating men with BPH for many years.
Kidney Stones
Kidney stones (renal lithiasis, nephrolithiasis) are hard deposits made of minerals and salts that form inside your kidneys.
Kidney stones have many causes and can affect any part of your urinary tract — from your kidneys to your bladder. Often, stones form when the urine becomes concentrated, allowing minerals to crystallize and stick together.
Passing kidney stones can be quite painful, but the stones usually cause no permanent damage if they’re recognized in a timely fashion. Depending on your situation, you may need nothing more than to take pain medication and drink lots of water to pass a kidney stone. In other instances — for example, if stones become lodged in the urinary tract, are associated with a urinary infection or cause complications — surgery may be needed.
If your doctor suggests you may have kidney stones, schedule an appointment with Dr. Kahn for diagnosis and treatment.
Open Prostatectomy
Dr. Kahn specializes in this tried-and-true procedure to help cure prostate cancer patients. Open prostatectomy is the surgical removal of the prostate gland. It is done under a general or spinal anesthetic. Usually, an incision is made through the lower abdomen, although sometimes the incision is made between the rectum and the base of the penis. A catheter may be placed in the bladder through the lower abdominal skin to help flush the bladder (postoperative bladder irrigation) and another catheter comes out of the penis to drain the urine. Although the procedure requires a slightly longer hospital stay and recovery period than its robotic counterpart, an open prostatectomy allows the surgeon to palpate the area which can help with proper removal of the cancer that a small robot simply might not be able to detect.
