Ganesh Sanekommu, MD, is a urologist who specializes in treating kidney stones, kidney cancer, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and other conditions with minimally invasive procedures. He completed a fellowship in endourology at Yale School of Medicine.
Originally interested in emergency medicine, Dr. Sanekommu says he was drawn to general surgery and urology after completing rotations in both areas during medical school.
“I knew I was interested in the surgical aspect of medicine and liked working with patients and helping people,” he says. “What’s nice about urology is the variety of conditions we treat and developing lasting relationships with patients.”
Dr. Sanekommu performs minimally invasive surgery. He trained to perform holmium laser enucleation of the prostate, or HoLEP, a minimally invasive surgical procedure used to treat BPH. He performs robotic surgery for kidney and ureteral (the tube that connects the kidney to the bladder) cancers and for noncancerous conditions to fix blockages where the kidney and ureter meet. He also treats large kidney stones with percutaneous nephrolithotripsy.
When he first meets a patient, Dr. Sanekommu asks them what their understanding is of why they were referred to him. “Based off what the patient says, I will give them more information about their condition as I’ll have reviewed their chart thoroughly,” he says. “I might already have an idea of what I’m going to recommend, but I want to understand where they are at and ultimately, they are making the decision and I want whatever they decide to make sense to them. It’s a combination of educating and guiding.”
The most gratifying part of his job, he says, is chatting with patients after a surgery has gone well and they are happy.
“It’s nice when they put their trust in me, and I was able to deliver on the promises we talked about before surgery,” he says.
