Clinical features and surgical outcome of benign prostatic hyperplasia

The clinical features and outcome of surgery for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) were studied retrospectively in Asir during the period between 1987 and 1993. Two hundred and fifty-three patients were included. The mean and median ages were both 70 years. The main presentation were acute retention (54%), prostatism (39%), and chronic retention (6.8%). Thirty-five and five-tenths percent of the patients had one or more pre-existing medical problems. Two hundred and forty-eight patients underwent prostatectomy. Open surgery constituted 26.6%, while transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) was carried out in 73.4%. There was neither intraoperative death nor postoperative failure of voiding. The perioperative mortality rate was 0.8%. The main perioperative complications were bacteriuria in 48%, and significant bleeding requiring blood transfusion of three units or more in 20.6%. Histopathology revealed benign disease in 93.2% of the specimens and adenocarcinoma in 6.8%. It is concluded that the Saudi BPH patient in Asir presents late with acute retention of urine more often than in other places and so noninvasive therapeutic modalities may be less helpful.