After years of practice, travels and discussion with colleagues, I came to the conclusion that the specifics of implantation of artificial urinary sphincters (AUS) were extremely variable from one surgeon to another. There was no written consensus on the different phases of patient selection, surgery and post-operative management of an incontinent individual undergoing an AUS surgery.
Helped by my co-chair Dr Lysanne Campeau, we put together a consensus group. Member selection was based mainly on the number of AUS implanted by each surgeon in an academic practice, as provided to us by American Medical Systems (AMS).
A comprehensive program was designed, circulated, discussed, modified and then approved by all members. On 10 July 2015, the group convened together in Chicago for a discussion on each initially selected item. For each of them, one member of the group made a short presentation on the available evidence or on expert opinion. Following this short talk, a discussion was conducted by one of the co-chairs, leading to a consensus statement.
The final document starts with an executive summary listing all these 26 statements and is followed by a complete report including all comments, detailed recommendations and evidence. This consensus work aims to reflect the state-of-the art way of AUS patient selection and implantation. It should be extremely useful for experienced urologists to fine-tune their technique and as a step-by-step guide for newly trained urologists interested to start the technique.
This document has been approved by the ICS Standardisation Steering Committee and the Board of Trustees.
This work has been made possible thanks to two unrestricted grants given to ICS by American Medical Systems and Boston Scientific.
The ICS Artificial Urinary Sphincter Consensus report will be available as a special supplement of the Journal of Neurourology and Urodynamics. ICS members who opted for journal membership will receive a copy in the post shortly. Alternatively, journal members can read the supplement on the Wiley website here.
Additional Information
Artificial Urinary Sphincter: Executive Summary of the 2015 ICS Consensus Conference
Article by Jacques Corcos.