Grading of complications of transurethral resection of bladder tumor using Clavien-Dindo classification system

Clavien-Dindo classification system is used for grading complications of various oncological, renal, and endourological procedures. We applied this system for grading the severity of perioperative complications in patients undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) and identify parameters predicting these complications.

Data of 984 patients who underwent TURBT from 2006 to 2014 were included in this study. All data was retrospectively collected and analyzed for complications occurring within the first postoperative month. All complications were classified according to the five grades of modified CCS (.Clavien classification system).

A total of 172 complications were observed in 138 patients. Majority were low grade complications (Grade 1 [77.3%] and Grade 2 [12.7%]). Higher grade complications were rare (Grade 3 [6.4%] and Grade 4 [3.0%]). There was one death (Grade 5 0.6%), with an overall mortality rate of 0.1%. The incidence of complications was significantly greater for age >60 years, baseline serum creatinine >1.4 mg/dl, size of tumor >4 cm, tumor located at dome, resection time >60 min, incomplete resection and if surgery performed by a resident urologist.

Clavien-Dindo classification system can be easily applied to grade the complications of TURBT, and it is easily reproducible. We observed that TURBT was a safe procedure. Majority of complications were Grade 1-2 (90%) and Grade 3-5 were rare (10%). Postoperative bleeding is the most common complication. A greater rate of complications of TURBT was associated with patient age, size of tumor, location of tumor, surgeon experience, resection time, and completion of tumor resection.