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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Christopher HardingORCiD, Marcus Drake
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2020 The Authors. Neurourology and Urodynamics published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. Aim: The International Continence Society (ICS) has standardized quality control and interpretation of uroflowmetry and urodynamics. We evaluated traces from two large studies of male lower urinary tract symptoms (UPSTREAM and UNBLOCS) against ICS standards of urodynamic equipment and practice. Methods: Ten percent of uroflowmetry and urodynamics traces were selected at random from hospital sites. A data capture template was designed from the ICS Fundamentals of Urodynamic Practice checklist. Two pretrained blinded assessors extracted the data, with a third assessor to arbitrate. Departmental records of calibration checks and equipment maintenance were scrutinized. Results: Seven out of twenty-five (28%) departments reported no calibration checks. Four sites (16%) could not provide annual service records. In 32 out of 296 (10.8%) uroflowmetry traces, findings were affected by artifact. One hundred ten urodynamic study traces were reviewed; in 11 records (10%), key pressure traces were incompletely displayed. In 30 (27.2%), reference zero was not set to atmospheric pressure. Resting pressures were outside the expected range for 36 (32.7%). Pressure drift was seen in 18 traces (16.4%). At pressure-flow study commencement, permission to void was omitted in 15 (13.6%). Cough testing after voiding was done in 71.2%, but the resulting cough spikes were significantly different in 16.5%. Erroneous diagnosis of bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) was identified in six cases (5.5%). Conclusions: Erroneous diagnosis of BOO is a serious error of interpretation, as it could lead to unnecessary surgery. Other errors of standardization, testing, and interpretation were identified with lower risk of adverse implications. Inconsistent documentation of service records mean equipment accuracy is uncertain.
Author(s): Aiello M, Jelski J, Lewis A, Worthington J, McDonald C, Abrams P, Gammie A, Harding C, Biers S, Hashim H, Lane JA, Drake MJ
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Neurourology and Urodynamics
Year: 2020
Volume: 39
Issue: 4
Pages: 1170-1177
Print publication date: 01/04/2020
Online publication date: 18/03/2020
Acceptance date: 04/03/2020
Date deposited: 30/03/2020
ISSN (print): 0733-2467
ISSN (electronic): 1520-6777
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Inc.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/nau.24337
DOI: 10.1002/nau.24337
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