The agency for health care policy and research: Clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia

The BPH guidelines provide a rational diagnostic and treatment algorithm for practitioners consulting with patients presenting with symptoms of prostatism. The guidelines also serve several very important purposes: They represent the first attempt at a comprehensive review of the English-language literature regarding the evaluation and treatment of men presenting with symptoms of BPH. They are presented in a comprehensible and transparent fashion to the reader, inasmuch as each piece of supporting evidence is explicitly listed. A decision diagram is presented, allowing health care providers to evaluate and treat patients with BPH in a rational fashion. A balance sheet of treatment outcomes should help patients and health care providers in their shared decision-making regarding treatment alternatives. They uncovered significant knowledge gaps and areas for future basic and clinical research. As more and more treatment alternatives become available, the guidelines will have to be updated to reflect both the changing health care environment and the ever-expanding armamentarium of treatment choices.