The American Urological Association 2003 guideline on management of benign prostatic hyperplasia: a Canadian opinion

The 2003 American Urological Association (AUA) guideline on management of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) was released at the AUA annual meeting in Chicago, April 2003 and the diagnosis and treatment recommendations were published later in 2003. It is likely that the 2003 AUA guideline on the management of BPH will have a profound effect on clinical urologic practice in the USA, but its influence on Canadian urological practice will be different because of our socialized medical system, manpower issues, availability of expensive technology and our unique Canadian perspective. The authors review the 2003 AUA guideline on the management of BPH and based on a perspective obtained from recent publications, consensus/consultant meetings, focus groups and anecdotal experience, attempt to put the recommendations into Canadian context. We conclude that the 2003 AUA guideline for the management of BPH is an important document that should be studied, evaluated and understood by Canadian urologists. Although our perspective is clearly different than our US colleagues, it is likely that the guideline will influence the management of BPH in Canada.