Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms
Pathway Home
Population Covered By The Guidance
This pathway provides guidance on the imaging of adult patients with lower urinary tract symptoms.
Date reviewed: January 2012
Date of next review: October 2023
Published: April 2012
Quick User Guide
Move the mouse cursor over the PINK text boxes inside the flow chart to bring up a pop up box with salient points.
Clicking on the PINK text box will bring up the full text.
The relative radiation level (RRL) of each imaging investigation is displayed in the pop up box.
| SYMBOL | RRL | EFFECTIVE DOSE RANGE |
 |
None | 0 |
 |
Minimal | < 1 millisieverts |
 |
Low | 1-5 mSv |
 |
Medium | 5-10 mSv |
 |
High | >10 mSv |
Images
Image GalleryNote: These images open in a new page |
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|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Prostatitis Image 1 (Ultrasound): Bulky prostate of approximately 49mL. |
| 2 |  |
Neurogenic Bladder Image 2 (Ultrasound): Thick-walled bladder consistent with neurogenic bladder. |
Teaching Points
Teaching Points
- Lower Urinary Tract symptoms (LUTS) may be irritative and/or obstructive
- Ultrasound is indicated in all patients to assess the upper tracts (for hydronephrosis) and the bladder post-void residual volume
- MSU is performed routinely
- Cystoscopy may be required
- If there is a suspicion of urinary calculi, non-contrast enhanced CT scan may be performed
References
References
References are graded from Level I to V according to the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, Levels of Evidence. Download the document
- Grossfield GD, Coakley FV. Benign prostatic hyperplasia: clinical overview and value of diagnostic imaging. Radiol Clin North Am. 2000;38(1):31-47. (Review article)
- Scheckowitz EM, Resnick MI. Imaging of the prostate: benign prostatic hyperplasia. Urol Clin North Am. 1995;22(2):321-32. (Review article)
- Roehrborn CG, Chinn HK, Fulgham PF, et al. The role of transabdominal ultrasound in the evaluation of patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy. J Urol. 1986;135(6):1190-3. (Level II evidence). View the reference
- Cascione CJ, Bartone FF, Hussain MB. Transabdominal ultrasound versus excretory urography in preoperative evaluation of patients with prostatism. J Urol. 1987;137(5):883-5. (Level II/III evidence)
- Wasserman NF, Lapointe S, Eckmann DR, et al. Assessment of prostatism: role of intravenous urography. Radiology. 1987;165(3):831-5. (Level II/III evidence)
- De Lacey G, Johnson S, Mee D. Prostatism: how useful is routine imaging of the urinary tract? Br Med J. 1988;296(6627):965-7. (Level II evidence). View the reference
Information for Consumers
Information for Consumers
Information from this website |
Information from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists’ website |
Consent to Procedure or Treatment Radiation Risks of X-rays and Scans |
Radiation Risk of Medical Imaging During Pregnancy Radiation Risk of Medical Imaging for Adults and Children |
File Formats
Some documents for download on this website are in a Portable Document Format (PDF). To read these files you might need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader.
