Perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis for transurethral resection of the prostate: is it justifiable?

The role of perioperative antimicrobial prophylaxis in transurethral resection of the prostate remains controversial. A total of 110 patients with preoperative sterile urine undergoing transurethral resection of the prostate was included in this open, prospective and randomized study to compare the prophylactic role of cefoperazone to no antibiotic prophylaxis. Patients were well matched between the 2 groups on all essential characteristics and risk factors at baseline. Owing to the strict selection criteria and aseptic measures used, the low incidence of postoperative urinary tract infections in the control group (1.8 per cent) compared to none in the cefoperazone group made conclusions and generalization limited due to sample size. In view of the extremely low infection rate it is doubtful that antibiotic prophylaxis had any beneficial role in this selected population.