Richard E. Link, MD, PhD

Richard E. Link, MD, PhD

Baylor College of Medicine

Houston, Texas

Richard E. Link, MD, PhD, is a professor and board-certified and fellowship-trained urologist specializing in the treatment of urologic disease affecting the kidney, ureter, adrenal gland and prostate. Dr. Link holds the Carlton-Smith Endowed Chair in urologic education at the Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston, Texas and directs the BCM division of endourology and minimally invasive surgery. He serves as director of living donor procurement for several major kidney transplant programs in Houston, including Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, and the Houston Methodist Hospital. Dr. Link focuses on the use of laparoscopic, robotic-assisted, percutaneous, and endoscopic techniques to treat kidney and prostate tumors, benign prostatic hypertrophy, renal and ureteral obstruction, and urinary tract stones and has been an early pioneer in the development of laparoendoscopic single-site donor nephrectomy.

Dr. Link earned both his MD and PhD in molecular and cellular physiology at Stanford University in California and completed an internship and residency at BCM before completing a fellowship at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Link also has a strong interest in applying single site robotic technology using the da Vinci SP platform to retroperitoneal and transvesical urologic surgery. He has published numerous papers and earned many awards, including the Fulbright and Jaworski LLP Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching and Evaluation at BCM.

Talks by Richard E. Link, MD, PhD

Can You Drive a Stick? Prevention and Management of Bleeding During Minimally Invasive Renal Surgery

Posted by | Feb 2021

Richard E. Link, MD, PhD, Professor of Urology and the Carlton-Smith Endowed Chair in Urologic Education at the Baylor College of Medicine, discusses techniques for preventing and managing bleeding during renal surgery, emphasizing the importance of maintaining laparoscopic surgery skills that have eroded with the increased use of robotic surgery. He explains that major bleeding complications can occur during abdominal access, critical dissection steps, or during exit from the abdomen, and surgeons need to be prepared with the correct tools and skills. Dr. Link presents a two-phase system for assessing danger and formulating a plan when major bleeding occurs. Phase 1 is short-term damage control, and involves evaluation of blood loss potential, determination of whether the blood is venous or arterial in origin, and a decision on whether the surgeon can handle the bleed laparoscopically with their skill set. Phase 2 is permanent control, and features a reassessment of response to damage control and a decision on whether the bleed can be solved laparoscopically or if the surgeon should facilitate safe open conversion. Adequate assessment is key to proper management. Dr. Link explains that robotic cases should be approached similarly, but emphasizes the importance of good teamwork and being slow and deliberate when there is a bleed during a robotic surgery.

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A Better Mousetrap: Minimally-Invasive Management of Symptomatic Caliceal Diverticular Stones in the Era of Robotic Surgery

A Better Mousetrap: Minimally-Invasive Management of Symptomatic Caliceal Diverticular Stones in the Era of Robotic Surgery

Posted by | Dec 2020

Richard E. Link, MD, PhD, Professor of Urology and the Carlton-Smith Endowed Chair in Urologic Education at the Baylor College of Medicine, discusses the pros and cons of different techniques for managing caliceal diverticular stones, a simple problem requiring a complex solution. The presentation aims to provide a framework for the identification and management of this condition since there are not enough high-quality studies to have a definitive strategy. Dr. Link discusses caliceal diverticulum incidence, etiology, and presentation, as well as the specific qualities of stones in caliceal diverticula, noting that stone formation is not caused by the presence of a caliceal diverticulum, but rather by the same metabolic anomalies experienced by other stone formers. He then dissects the different surgical options for treatment, including: extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL), which results in stone-free rates of ≤25% and should only be used in patients who cannot tolerate more effective therapy; ureteroscopic management, which is superior to ESWL but still has low success rates; and percutaneous management, which was the gold standard treatment before the era of robotic surgery, and results in a stone-free rate between 70 and 100%, although it can be a challenging surgery. Dr. Link also discusses laparoscopic diverticulectomy and robotic true partial nephrectomy, more aggressive approaches that may be needed if percutaneous management fails. He concludes with several case studies, emphasizing that treatments should be tailored to individual patients.

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Why Should a Clinician Care About 3D Printing, VR Simulators and Genetically Engineered Animal Models for Kidney Cancer?

Why Should a Clinician Care About 3D Printing, VR Simulators and Genetically Engineered Animal Models for Kidney Cancer?

Posted by | Jan 2019

Richard E. Link, MD, PhD, discusses current challenges in the management of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), as well as research efforts to address these challenges. He specifically reviews 3D-printed models and virtual reality simulation for pre-surgical rehearsal and training, and an engineered animal model for identifying genetic targets in papillary RCC.

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