European Association of Urology Urolithiasis Guidelines: Where Are We Going?

• Published in: European urology focus 2021-01, Vol.7 (1), p.34-38
• Main Authors: Tzelves, Lazaros, Türk, Christian, Skolarikos, Andreas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bladder stones; Europe; European Association of Urology; European Association of Urology Urolithiasis Panel; Guidelines; Guidelines as Topic; Humans; Societies, Medical; Systematic review; Urolithiasis; Urolithiasis - diagnosis; Urolithiasis - epidemiology; Urolithiasis - therapy; Urology - standards
• ISSN: 2405-4569; 2405-4569
• DOI: 10.1016/j.euf.2020.09.011

Urolithiasis is a clinical condition showing increasing trends, especially among European and other developed countries. The European Association of Urology (EAU), in close collaboration with experts in the field, publishes a yearly updated clinical guideline, in order to provide practicing urologists around Europe and the rest of the world a tool for optimizing patient care and decision-making. The methodological approach for developing this guide is quite rigorous and follows rigorous scientific standards. The challenges that a urologist faces are increasing; therefore, during meticulous literature search, the EAU Urolithiasis Panel identifies gaps in knowledge and conducts systematic reviews, in order to provide answers or to propose ideas for designing future research. This way, a new section was published last year, regarding diagnosis and management of bladder stones, with more systematic reviews on the way. The aim of this study is to analyze current structure and goals of the EAU Urolithiasis Panel, along with future ambitions and challenges. Increasing trends in kidney stone disease along with developments in technology necessitate systematic organization of information for urologists in order to be able to follow diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms for optimizing patient care. The role of the European Association of Urology Urolithiasis Guideline Panel is to provide such a tool by development of urolithiasis guidelines on an annual basis. The European Association of Urology Guidelines Panel works constantly to improve the evidence supporting the created recommendations on different topics of urolithiasis. The involvement of a nephrologist expert, a patient representative, and new young associate members is the new addition to the panel human resources. Improving the evidence by conducting systematic reviews on several topics and even supporting randomized trials in the future is the next goal.