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Guidelines for the Management of Acute Ureteric Colic

These guidelines have been developed by the British Association of Urological Surgeons to give a framework to clinicians, based primarily in the UK, for the management of patients presenting acutely with ureteric colic.


This guideline document was "signed off" by the authors in September 2017 and represents an update of the guidelines published in 2012; it should now replace any older versions. The document was first published in the JCU (and on this website) in January 2018.

Download the BAUS guidelines for acute ureteric colic

The document has been developed by consensus, with reference to the American Urological Association / Endourological Society Guidelines on the surgical management of stones and the European Association of Urology (EAU) Guidelines on Urolithiasis. The guidelines have, however, been adapted to the logistics of those practising within the National Health Service (NHS).

Standardisation of terms

To allow accurate comparison between different sources of data, it is essential that all guidelines use the same system and terms of measurement. Categorisation of the level of evidence (LE) and grade of recommendation (Gr), based on the same system as that adopted by the European Association of Urology (EAU), is shown within the document.

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