A/ Prof. Raymond Ko

About A/ Prof. Ko

Established Urologist and Surgeon with a busy practice specializing in the treatment of kidney and ureteric stones.

Carried out over 6,000 stone cases using various minimally invasive surgical techniques over 15 years experience.

Teaches masterclasses both locally and regional neighbors in the Philippines, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and China in advanced endoscopic stone management techniques

Industry recognized key opinion leader in kidney stone treatment

Specializes in minimally invasive stone surgery, including:

• retrograde intrarenal surgery (flexible ureteroscopy and flexible pyeloscopy),
• keyhole surgery- percutaneous nephrolithotomy including mini PCNL,
• combined intrarenal surgery- percutaneous and retrograde stone treatment carried out together
• laser stone surgery,
• extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL)
• no stent stone surgery

Complex Stone Treatments

Associate Professor Raymond Ko also provides treatment for tertiary referral complex stone cases referred by other Urologists across Sydney and regional New South Wales.

Accredited by the Endourological Society for having met the requirements for academic research and treatment of

• Bladder stones,
• Ureteric stones, and
• Kidney or renal stone disease.

Stone Prevention

Dr Ko is also a strong patient advocate for non-surgical stone management and prevention strategies through lifestyle, dietary modification, and medical therapies.

Qualifications

Undergraduate

• Bachelor Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MB,BS Syd Hons1) First Class Honours Sydney University
• Awarded The Robert Craig Prize in Surgery

Postgraduate

• Fellow of Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS Urology)

Subspecialty

• Endourological Society Fellow
• Fellowship in Endourology, Laparoscopy and Robotic Surgery at University of Western Ontario, London, Canada

Dr Ko spent two years in Canada Post Fellowship training with world-leading experts Professors John Denstedt & Hassan Razvi in:

• laser stone treatment and
• minimally invasive kidney stone surgery
• laser endoscopic prostate surgery

Registration

• Medical Board of Australia (Registration No: MED0001170959)

Current Positions

• Clinical Associate Professor, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney
• Training Supervisor in Urology (Royal Australasian College of Surgeons), Nepean and Concord Hospitals, Sydney since 2008- now
• Supervisor of Junior Accredited Urology Trainees in NSW, Board of Urology NSW Section, Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand
• Visiting Consultant Surgeon at Nepean and Concord General Hospital.

Memberships

• Fellow, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
• Member, Urological Society Australia and New Zealand
• Member, American Urological Association Fellow
• Member, The Endourological Society
• Member, Urological Association of Asia
• Member, European Association of Urology

Hospital Appointments Private Hospitals

• Nepean Private Hospital

Teaching Hospitals

• Concord General Hospital
• Nepean Hospital
• Macquarie University Hospital

Honours, Distinctions and Awards

Dr Ko has received major international awards for his work and research on the treatment of kidney stones.

As a result of his findings, the Western University and the Lawson Research Institute in Canada received grants from the United States government of over USD$500,000 to further develop this research.

• Awarded The Robert Craig Undergraduate Prize in Surgery 1994, University of Sydney
• Awarded Johnson and Johnson Ethicon Prize for Best Poster The Annual Registrars’ Scientific Meeting: RACS (NSW) State Committee, Sydney, NSW 2002
• Awarded Christopher Richard Farrell Prize for Best Urology Registrar Presentation NSW Section of the Urological Society of Australasia, Bowral, NSW 2007
• 1st Prize in The Annual Endourological Society Essay Contest-Best Research Paper Endourological Society and Journal of Endourology World Congress Endourology, Cancun, Mexico 2008
• 1st Prize, New Investigator’s Award, Society for Infection and Inflammation in Urology, The 103rd American Urological Association Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida, USA 2008
• Awarded The Alban Gee Prize for Best Scientific Research Poster Presentation, The 61st Annual Scientific Meeting of The Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand, Hong Kong, China
• Winner, Chairman’s Research Award, Patient education decreases re-presentation rates. Nepean Hospital Quality Awards, Sydney, NSW 2018

Speaker Roles (invited)

• Novel uropathogenic-resistant coatings inspired by marine mussels, 25th World Congress of Endourology Annual Meeting Cancun, Mexico, Nov 2007
• Plenary Session Podium Presentation- 1st Prize in Basic Science Research (Endourological Society),
• Point-Counterpoint Debate: The upper tract stone The Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand (New South Wales Section) Annual Scientific Meeting Sydney, Australia, Nov 2011
• A paradigm shift: single-use digital flexible ureteroscopy Co-convenors: Professor Damian Bolton and Dr Raymond Ko The 69th Annual Scientific Meeting of The Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, 2017
• Urology Residents’ Course, Singapore General Hospital, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 2017
• Current Trends of fURS around Asia Pacific- 106th Japanese Urological Association Meeting, Kyoto, Japan, 2018

Medical Advisory Boards

• Selection Panel Subcommittee for selection Urology Trainees, Urological Society Australia and New Zealand 2017 +
• NSW Health Tender Governance Committee for Urology Equipment Procurement 2018

Journal Reviewer (invited)

Dr Ko has served as an invited journal reviewer for the following publications:

• Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery
• British Journal of Urology International
• Cochrane Renal Group
• Journal of Urology

Selected Peer Reviewed Journal Publications

• Robotic Surgery and Anaesthesia, Ko R, Woo K, Ramanathan T, Pautler SE, McConahie I CPD Anaesthesia, 2007; 9(2): 99-108
• Current Understanding of the Molecular Mechanisms of Kidney Cancer: A Primer for Urologists Lim DL, Ko R, Pautler SE, Canadian Urology Association Journal, 2007; 1(2 Suppl): S13- 20
• Antegrade percutaneous endopyelotomy, Ko R, Duvdevani M, Denstedt JD Current Urology Reports. 2007; 8(2): 128-33. Ko R, Razvi H
• C-arm Laser Positioning Device to Facilitate Percutaneous Renal Access Urology, 2007; 70: 360-61
• Transitional cell carcinoma recurrence rate following nephroureterectomy in patients who undergo open excision of bladder cuff versus transurethral incision of ureteral orifice, Ko R, Chew BH, Hickling DR, Razvi H, Luke PP,Chin JL, Izawa JI, Pautler SE. Journal of Endourology, 2007; 21(7): 730-34
• Thermal and histologic tissue effects of bipolar versus monopolar surgical resection of the prostate in a canine model, Ko R, Chew BH, Tan AH, Rowe E, Razvi HA, Photonic Therapeutics and Diagnostics III, Reza S Malek (Editor),, Proceedings of SPIE, 2007; 6424: 64240Y
• Percutaneous nephrolithotomy made easier: a practical guide,tips and tricks, Ko R, Soucy F, Denstedt JD, Razvi H, British Journal of Urology International, 2008; 101: 535-9
• First Prize: Novel uropathogen-resistant coatings inspired by marine mussels, Ko R, Cadieux PA, Dalsin JL, Lee BP, Elwood C, Razvi H, Journal of Endourology, 2008; 22: 1153-60
• First Prize for Best Research Paper in The Annual Endourological Society Essay Contest
• The current status of percutaneous nephrolithotomy in themanagement of kidney stones, Yuhico M, Ko R Minerva Urologica e Nephrologica, 2008; 60: 159-75
• Occupational noise exposure during endourological procedures, Soucy F, Ko R, Denstedt, Ko R Journal of Endourology, 2008; 22 :1609-11
• Percutaneous nephrolithotripsy in patients with diabetes mellitus, Duvdevani M, Nott L, Ray A, Ko R, Denstedt JD, Razvi H Journal of Endourology, 2009; 3: 21-6
• Anti-adhesive coating and clearance of device-associated uropathogenic Escherichia coli cystitis, Pechey A, Elwood CN, Wignall GR, Dalsin JL, Lee BP, Vanjecek M, Welch I, Ko R,Razvi H, Cadieux PA, Journal of Urology, 2009; 182: 1628-36
• Comparison of the thermal and histopathological effects of bipolar and monopolar electrosurgical resection of the prostate in a canine model, Ko R, Tan AH, Chew BH, Rowe PE, Razvi H British Journal of Urology International, 2010; 105(9): 1314-7
• Knotted proximal loop of ureteric stents: Review of the literature and five case reports, Ahmadi N, Tran M, Elms M and Ko R, Journal of Clinical Urology, DOI: 10.1177/2051415814532810 published online 8 May 2014
•  A rare case of ureteral IgG4 disease masquerading as urothelial carcinoma, Zhong W, Kam J, Beattie K, Yuminaga Y, Ferguson R and Ko RUrology. 2018 Aug;118:e1-e2
• Single use versus reusable digital flexible ureteroscopes: A prospective comparative study, Kam J, Yuminaga Y, Beattie K, Ling KY, Arianayagam M, Canagasingham B, Ferguson R, Varol C, Khadra M, Winter M, Ko R. International Journal of Urology, 2019; Aug 25. doi: 10.1111/iju.14091
• Long Pulse-Width Setting Improves Holmium-YAG Laser Lithotripsy – Enhanced Fragmentation and Retropulsion Characteristics of Renal Calculi in a Novel In-Vivo Setting, Kam J, Jackson S, Yuminaga Y, Winter M, Khadra M, Ko R  Surg Technol Int. 2020 Jun 10;37:sti37/1294. PMID: 32520387
• A prospective, matched comparison of ultra-low and standard-dose computed tomography for assessment of renal colic, Roberts MJ, Williams J, Khadra S, Nalavenkata S, Kam J, McCombie SP, Arianayagam M, Canagasingham B, Ferguson R, Khadra M, Varol C, Winter M, Sanaei F, Loh H, Thakkar Y, Dugdale P, Ko R. BJU Int. 2020 Jun 23. doi: 10.1111/bju.15116. PMID: 32573114
• Case of intermittent testicular torsion and de-torsion captured on scrotal ultrasound, He Y, Bhoopathy V, Gerlach J, Myint M, McCombie S, Ko RANZ J Surg. 2020 Aug 6. doi: 10.1111/ans.16161. PMID: 32761856