The Los Angeles Infertility and Prostatitis Medical Group
is dedicated to the evaluation in treatment of male infertility and chronic prostatitis. This includes medical and surgical management of these conditions.Initial Office Consultations: What to expect
The patient is expected to arrive a few minutes early in order to fill out some paperwork prior to visiting with the doctor. It is important if you have undergone prior testing and/or have seen other physicians that you bring the records of these tests and prior consultations. That helps to avoid repeating testing that you have had and to help us make as informed a diagnosis and formulate a treatment plan at the time of the visit. In addition, if there is anything else to discuss that you have read or heard that you would like to inquire about it is helpful to bring that information with you as well.For patients who come with prostate problems, I typically have them come in with a full bladder in order to perform a Uroflowmetry (the patient voids into a funnel attached to a computer that records the maximum flow rate, average flow rate and voided volume) and post void residual (a small ultrasound is used to determine the amount of urine that remains in the bladder after voiding). I take a very thorough history in order to determine the cause of the problem, the severity, and the events leading up to it and to ascertain what makes it better and worse. I also delve into the patient's medical history in order to have a comprehensive picture of the patient. This is followed by a thorough physical exam (I do a complete physical so that I don't miss anything). This usually takes anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes.
Specifically for patients with infertility I like to have them bring all of their previous semen and laboratory testing so we are not trying to find this after the consult. I encourage the patients to bring their spouse/partner to the consult as this is a couple's issue. I also encourage the patients to provide the information from the spouse/partner's doctor as it is important to work with other doctors as a team to help in the quest for conception. If the spouse/partner does not have a doctor we will find one for them.