AUA Guidelines on Stress Urinary Incontinence: What Is New in the Guidelines?

Purpose of the Review: Stress urinary incontinence is a prevalent condition that can have a detrimental impact on the quality of life of affected individuals. Once judicious assessment of degree of bother the symptoms are causing a patient is performed, it is crucial to incorporate appropriate counseling and patient education as part of symptom management. Treatment modalities have evolved over the last several decades, and both nonsurgical and surgical treatment options should be discussed. This review highlights the recently published guidelines update from the American Urological Association (AUA) and the Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine & Urogenital Reconstruction (SUFU) for recommendations regarding the workup and treatment of stress urinary incontinence and a comprehensive overview of outcomes. Recent Findings: A new set of guidelines addressing surgical options for female stress incontinence based upon a widespread literature and abstract search that spanned from January 2005 to September 2016 was recently published by the AUA and SUFU. This extensive undertaking highlights systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials, controlled clinical trials, and observational studies in an effort to reflect the evolution of anti-incontinence therapies. Summary: This review focuses on the new changes from the recent guidelines for surgical management of stress urinary incontinence. As part of today’s contemporary landscape of patient-centered healthcare, emphasis is placed on patient counseling and outlining patient expectations, with communication and early intervention playing a large role in surgical management.