CONTEXT: The increasing body of evidence and number of potential indications for the use of botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) in the lower urinary tract (LUT) underlines the pressing need for evidence-based guidelines.
OBJECTIVE: A European expert panel consensus conference was convened with the main aim of evaluating the evidence and clinical considerations for the use of BoNTs in the treatment of urologic and pelvic-floor disorders and to propose relevant recommendations.
EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: The quality of evidence from fully published English-language literature in the PubMed and EMBASE databases was assessed using the European Association of Urology (EAU) levels of evidence (LoE). Recommendations were graded and approved by a unanimous consensus of the panel.
EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: The use of botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNTA) is recommended in the treatment of intractable symptoms of neurogenic detrusor overactivity (NDO) or idiopathic detrusor overactivity (IDO) in adults (grade A). Caution is recommended in IDO because the risk of voiding difficulty and duration of effect have not yet been accurately evaluated. Repeated treatment can be recommended in NDO (grade B). The depth and location for bladder injections should be within the detrusor muscle outside the trigone (grade C). Dosage in children should be determined by body weight, with caution regarding total dose if also being used for treatment of spasticity, and minimum age (grade B). Existing evidence is inconclusive for recommendations in neurogenic detrusor-sphincter dyssynergia, bladder pain syndrome, prostate diseases, and pelvic-floor disorders. The use of BoNTA in the LUT with the current dosages and techniques is considered to be safe overall (grade A).
CONCLUSIONS: The consensus committee recommends larger placebo-controlled and comparative trials to evaluate the efficacy of single and repeat injections, the duration of effect, the optimal dosage and injection technique, the timing for repeat injection, and the short- and long-term safety of the treatment in LUT and pelvic-floor disorders.