Introduction
In the development of terminology of the lower urinary tract, due to its increasing complexity, the terminology for male lower urinary tract and pelvic floor symptoms and dysfunction needs to be updated using a male‐specific approach and via a clinically‐based consensus report.
Methods
This report combines the input of members of the Standardisation Committee of the International Continence Society (ICS) in a Working Group with recognized experts in the field, assisted by many external referees. Appropriate core clinical categories and a subclassification were developed to give a numeric coding to each definition. An extensive process of 22 rounds of internal and external review was developed to exhaustively examine each definition, with decision‐making by collective opinion (consensus).
Results
A Terminology Report for male lower urinary tract and pelvic floor symptoms and dysfunction, encompassing around 390 separate definitions/descriptors, has been developed. It is clinically‐based with the most common diagnoses defined. Clarity and user‐friendliness have been key aims to make it interpretable by practitioners and trainees in all the different specialty groups involved in male lower urinary tract and pelvic floor dysfunction. Male‐specific imaging (ultrasound, radiology, CT, and MRI) has been a major addition whilst appropriate figures have been included to supplement and help clarify the text.
Conclusions
A consensus‐based Terminology Report for male lower urinary tract and pelvic floor symptoms and dysfunction has been produced aimed at being a significant aid to clinical practice and a stimulus for research.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) usually affects younger age groups with male preponderance. The most common traumatic cause is road traffic accident followed by sports accidents and gun-shot injuries. Infections and vascular events make up non-traumatic causes. There is regional variance in incidence and prevalence of SCI. Most systematic reviews have been undertaken from USA, Canada, and Australia with only few from Asia with resultant difficulty in estimation of worldwide figures. Overall, the incidence varies from 12 to more than 65 cases/million per year. The first peak is in young men between 15 and 29 years and second peak in older adults. The average age at injury is 40 years, with commonest injury being incomplete tetraplegia followed by complete paraplegia, complete tetraplegia, and incomplete paraplegia. The bladder function is reliant on both central and peripheral nervous systems for co-ordination of storage and voiding phases. The pathophysiology of bladder dysfunction can be described as an alteration in micturition reflex. It is postulated that a new spinal reflex circuit develops which is mediated by C fibers as response to reorganization of synaptic connections in spinal cord. This is responsible for the development of neurogenic detrusor overactivity (NDO). Various neurotrophic hormones like nerve growth factor affect the morphological and physiological changes of the bladder afferent neurons leading to neuropathic bladder dysfunction. A suprasacral SCI usually results in a voiding pattern consistent with NDO and sphincter dyssynergia. Injury to either the sacral cord or cauda equina results in detrusor hypoactivity/areflexia with sphincter weakness.
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