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Context: The incidence of postoperative complications is still the most frequently used surrogate marker of quality in surgery, but no standard guidelines or criteria exist for reporting surgical complications in the area of urology., Objective: To review the available reporting systems used for urologic surgical complications, to establish a possible change in attitude towards reporting of complications using standardised systems, to assess systematically the Clavien-Dindo system when used for the reporting of complications related to urologic surgical procedures, to identify shortcomings in reporting complications, and to propose recommendations for the development and implementation of future reporting systems that are focused on patient-centred outcomes., Evidence Acquisition: Standardised systems for reporting and classification of surgical complications were identified through a systematic review of the literature. To establish a possible change in attitude towards reporting of complications related to urologic procedures, we performed a systematic literature search of all papers reporting complications after urologic surgery published in European Urology, Journal of Urology, Urology, BJU International, and World Journal of Urology in 1999-2000 and 2009-2010. Data identification for the systematic assessment of the Clavien-Dindo system currently used for the reporting of complications related to urologic surgical interventions involved a Medline/Embase search and the search engines of individual urologic journals and publishers using Clavien, urology, and complications as keywords. All selected papers were full-text retrieved and assessed; analysis was done based on structured forms., Evidence Synthesis: The systematic review of the literature for standardised systems used for reporting and classification of surgical complications revealed five such systems. As far as the attitude of urologists towards reporting of complications, a shift could be seen in the number of studies using most of the Martin criteria, as well as in the number of studies using either standardised criteria or the Clavien-Dindo system. The latter system was not properly used in 72 papers (35.3%)., Conclusions: Uniformed reporting of complications after urologic procedures will aid all those involved in patient care and scientific publishing (authors, reviewers, and editors). It will also contribute to the improvement of the scientific quality of papers published in the field of urologic surgery. When reporting the outcomes of urologic procedures, the committee proposes a series of quality criteria., (Copyright © 2012 AEU. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.)

Context and Objective: To present the 2011 European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines on non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC)., Evidence Acquisition: Literature published between 2004 and 2010 on the diagnosis and treatment of NMIBC was systematically reviewed. Previous guidelines were updated, and the level of evidence and grade of recommendation were assigned., Evidence Synthesis: Tumours staged as Ta, T1, or carcinoma in situ (CIS) are grouped as NMIBC. Diagnosis depends on cystoscopy and histologic evaluation of the tissue obtained by transurethral resection (TUR) in papillary tumours or by multiple bladder biopsies in CIS. In papillary lesions, a complete TUR is essential for the patient's prognosis. Where the initial resection is incomplete or where a high-grade or T1 tumour is detected, a second TUR should be performed within 2-6 wk. In papillary tumours, the risks of both recurrence and progression may be estimated for individual patients using the scoring system and risk tables. The stratification of patients into low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups (separately for recurrence and progression) is pivotal to recommending adjuvant treatment. For patients with a low risk of tumour recurrence and progression, one immediate instillation of chemotherapy is recommended. Patients with an intermediate or high risk of recurrence and an intermediate risk of progression should receive one immediate instillation of chemotherapy followed by a minimum of 1 yr of bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) intravesical immunotherapy or further instillations of chemotherapy. Papillary tumours with a high risk of progression and CIS should receive intravesical BCG for 1 yr. Cystectomy may be offered to the highest risk patients, and it is at least recommended in BCG failure patients., Conclusions: These abridged EAU guidelines present updated information on the diagnosis and treatment of NMIBC for incorporation into clinical practice., (Copyright © 2011 AEU. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.)

Context: The European Association of Urology (EAU) Guideline Group for urothelial cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract (UUT-UCC) has prepared new guidelines to aid clinicians in assessing the current evidence-based management of UUT-UCC and to incorporate present recommendations into daily clinical practice., Objective: This paper provides a brief overview of the EAU guidelines on UUT-UCC as an aid to clinicians in their daily practice., Evidence Acquisition: The recommendations provided in the current guidelines are based on a thorough review of available UUT-UCC guidelines and papers identified using a systematic search of Medline. Data on urothelial malignancies and UUT-UCCs in the literature were searched using Medline with the following keywords: urinary tract cancer, urothelial carcinomas, upper urinary tract, carcinoma, transitional cell, renal pelvis, ureter, bladder cancer, chemotherapy, nephroureterectomy, adjuvant treatment, neoadjuvant treatment, recurrence, risk factors, and survival. A panel of experts weighted the references., Evidence Synthesis: There is a lack of data in the current literature to provide strong recommendations due to the rarity of the disease. A number of recent multicentre studies are now available, whereas earlier publications were based only on limited populations. However, most of these studies have been retrospective analyses. The TNM classification 2009 is recommended. Recommendations are given for diagnosis as well as for radical and conservative treatment; prognostic factors are also discussed. Recommendations are provided for patient follow-up after different therapeutic options., Conclusions: These guidelines contain information for the diagnosis and treatment of individual patients according to a current standardised approach. When determining the optimal treatment regimen, physicians must take into account each individual patient's specific clinical characteristics with regard to renal function including medical comorbidities; tumour location, grade and stage; and molecular marker status., (Copyright © 2011 AEU. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.)

The management of ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction has evolved over the past 20 years in response to the development of new technology. Open surgery is still the reference standard against which all other surgical interventions must be measured. The surgical approach has, however, gone through rapid changes, and the open procedure initially described has evolved considerably. Endoscopic and laparoscopic approaches have largely supplanted open pyeloplasty for the majority of primary ureteropelvic junction obstruction cases. Laparoscopic approaches provide a balance between a highly successful technique in all patients and improved postoperative recovery. It has been shown to improve postoperative outcomes with shorter recovery times and hospital stays, and to provide equivalent functional results with a success rate of 95%. Nevertheless, laparoscopic pyeloplasty is not a simple procedure. There are a certain number of disadvantages, such as the limited range of laparoscopic instrument movement, the two dimensional image, the unfamiliar hand-eye coordination and the relatively inefficient ergonomic position. Since 2000, however, robots have provided a magnified three-dimensional view giving a greater degree of freedom. This system has simplified suturing and has improved precision of the operating technique. However, the system is very expensive and, providing it is available in their institution, it seems easier for beginners to learn the robotic technique. Additionally, it has similar success rates (both radiological and clinical) to those obtained with open techniques.