[Morbidity, tolerability, and number of samples in prostatic biopsy: our experience]

Transrectal prostatic ultrasonography with biopsy is a fundamental step in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. The number of bioptic samples taken has a direct influence on the sensitivity of the diagnostic procedure. We compared the degree of acceptance of the biopsy, using visual analogue scale, with the appearance of complications in two groups of 250 patients: group A (sextant biopsy) and group B (traditional transrectal prostatic biopsy + 2 additional lateral samples from each lobe). 21% of group A patients reported slight pain, 63% tolerable pain and 16% severe pain, while pain intensity of group B patients was 18%, 65% e 17%, respectively. The appearance and degree of painful symptomatology, and the frequency of serious complications were not significantly different in either group. The extensive prostatic biopsy is well tolerated by patients and is associated with modest local complications.