San Diego, CA, May 6, 2016-The American Urological Association (AUA) and the Endourological Society today released a new clinical practice guideline on the surgical management of patients with ureteral and renal stones. This guideline will be presented on May 6 as part of the 2016 AUA Annual Meeting in San Diego.

Stone disease is a common condition, with more than eight percent of Americans affected. Management of patients with stone disease can be complex, and options exist for both non-surgical and surgical treatments. Proper treatment selection is critical, and clinicians must review patient- and stone-specific factors when assessing whether surgical management is the best approach. This guideline serves to provide a framework to guide clinicians providing care for patients for whom surgical management is the best option.

The guideline provides a number of recommendations regarding the surgical treatment of stone disease, and includes updates to the AUA's previously released guidelines on staghorn calculi (2005) and ureteral calculi (2007). This 2016 document replaces the AUA's previously released guidance and complements the AUA's guideline on the medical management of stones, released in 2014.

In addition to providing generalized guidance for all patients (regardless of stone size or location), this new document includes specific recommendations on imaging and pre-operative testing, treatment modalities for renal stones vs. ureteral stones, guidance for treating pregnant women with stones (ureteral or renal), and guidance for treating pediatric (ureteral or renal) stone formers.

"Stone disease is known to be a highly prevalent, extremely painful and very expensive condition for many Americans, and I'm pleased to say that over the years we've made tremendous advances in this field, particularly in the realm of clinical guidance" said Dr. Dean Assimos, who chaired the panel that developed the guideline. "Our goal with this document was to develop an all-encompassing document that would be comprehensive and clear, and one that would be of strong value to providers treating patients of all types who struggle with stones."

The full guideline is available online at www.AUAnet.org/Guidelines.

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About the American Urological Association: Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology, and has more than 21,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health policy.