A narrative review of the role of the Male Stress Incontinence Grading Scale in the surgical management of male stress urinary incontinence

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Surgical treatment for male stress urinary incontinence (SUI) includes transobturator slings and artificial urinary sphincters (AUSs). Historically, 24-hour pad weights have been used to objectively grade the severity of male SUI and guide management decisions. In 2016, the Male Stress Incontinence Grading Scale (MSIGS) was developed as a scoring system for the standing cough test (SCT). This test can be performed at the time of initial consultation and is non-invasive, with significantly less burden to the patient compared to historical measures of male SUI. METHODS: A review of the reconstructive literature was conducted using PubMed and Google Scholar, reviewing articles that discuss the development of MSIGS, its correlation with objective measures of male SUI, and its use in guiding the choice of anti-incontinence surgical management. KEY CONTENT AND FINDINGS: MSIGS has been shown to have a strong positive correlation with the 24-hour pad weight test and the subjective patient-reported pads per day (PPD). An MSIGS of 3 or 4 is used to recommend a patient for AUS placement and a score of 1 or 2 for male sling placement. Patient reported satisfaction rates were 95% for AUS and 96.5% for sling. Further, over 91% of men in the study reported they would recommend their selected procedure to other men with a similar condition. CONCLUSIONS: The MSIGS is a non-invasive, efficient, and cost-effective way to evaluate men with SUI. The in-office SCT can be quickly and easily adopted into any clinical practice and provides immediate objective information that can be used to better counsel patients on anti-incontinence surgery selection.