The term 'neurogenic bladder' describes lower urinary tract dysfunction that has occurred likely as a result of a neurological injury or disease (1) . The International Continence Society (ICS) defines 'neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction' (NLUTD) as 'lower urinary tract dysfunction due to disturbance of the neurologic control mechanism.' This broad definition is used to describe a multitude of conditions of varying severity.Common causes of NLUTD include: spinal cord injury (SCI), multiple sclerosis (MS) and myelomeningocele (MMC). Other causes of NLUTD include: Parkinson's disease, cerebrovascular accidents, traumatic brain injury, brain or spinal cord tumor, cauda equina syndrome, transverse myelitis, multisystem atrophy, pelvic nerve injury and diabetes.It is well described that neurological disorders can lead to urologic complications including: urinary incontinence, UTIs, urolithiasis, sepsis, ureteric obstruction, vesicoureteric reflux (VUR) and renal failure (2) . Due to the potential morbidity, and even mortality, initial investigation, ongoing management and surveillance is warranted in this patient population. Despite the frequency and potential severity of NLUTD, there are few high-quality studies in the literature to guide urological practices.
CUAJ -CUA Guideline
Kavanagh et al Guideline: Neurogenic bladderPrior neurogenic guidelines vary in their clinical assessment, investigations utilized and surveillance strategies (2)(3)(4)(5)(6) . The primary reason is that there is limited evidence to support a common strategy. The purpose of this guideline is to help urologists to identify high-risk patients with NLUTD and to provide an approach to the management and surveillance of patients with NLUTD.
ClassificationThe etiology of a NLUTD is often classified based on whether the primary lesion is suprapontine, suprasacral, sacral or infrasacral (7) . A complementary system was developed by Madersbacher et al. based on the function of the detrusor muscle and of the external sphincter (8) . These systems allow a physician to have a general idea of how the lower urinary tract is likely to behave in SCI patients with more complete injuries. (Figure 1). Newer systems using MR urography in combination with urodynamics (UDS) have also been proposed. (9)
MethodologyThis review was performed according to the methodology recommended by the Canadian Urologic Association (10) . EmBASE and Medline databases were used to identify literature relevant to the early urological care of NLUTD patients. Recommendations were developed by consensus and graded using a modified Oxford system which identifies level of evidence (LOE) and grade of recommendation (GOR). This complete version includes the full text of the guidelines (including the sections in the executive summary).
Canadian epidemiology of neurogenic bladderThere are 3.7 million Canadians living with a neurologic condition, (11,12) three common types of neurologic conditions are Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Spina Bifida (SB) and Spinal Cord Injury (SCI). In ...