Transurethral prostatectomy: analysis and comparison of four clinical series

Charts of 302 patients from four groups who had transurethral prostatectomy were reviewed with respect to patient characteristics and complications. The four groups were similar in average age and amount of tissue resected. Patients from the University of Alabama Hospital and Veterans Administration Hospital tended to have more associated illnesses than patients in the two private practices. Bleeding, the most frequently seen intraoperative and immediate postoperative complication, occurred most often in the University of Alabama Hospital series and in patients with prostates weighing more than 45 gm. Incontinence, the most frequent long-term complication, occurred most often in patients from the Veterans Administration Hospital. Complications and characteristics are compared with those in previously reported series of patients having transurethral prostatectomy and with those of the American Urological Association cooperative study.