Bipolar Transurethral Resection of Bladder Tumor Provides Better Tissue for Histopathology But Has No Superior...

Bipolar transurethral resection of bladder tumors (TURBTs) has been claimed to have lesser complications and better specimen quality, but recent studies have contradictory results, and hence, we conducted this study to compare the clinical efficacy and safety of monopolar and bipolar electrosurgical modalities in TURBTs.

A total of 287 patients were enrolled in the study and underwent TURBTs between July 2015 and September 2016. Patients undergoing surgery under general anesthesia and restage procedure were excluded from the study. Patient demographic profile, tumor characteristics, and complications of the procedures such as obturator jerk, bladder perforation, blood loss, need for resurgery, and transurethral resection syndrome were recorded. Tumor specimens were analyzed for stage, grade, deep muscle invasion, and quantity and quality of thermal artifacts.

A total of 160 patients were block randomized and analyzed with 80 patients in either group. Patient demographics and tumor characteristics were comparable between the groups. Change in hemoglobin levels and incidence of bladder perforation were comparable between the groups. A higher proportion of patients in bipolar group had obturator jerk compared with those in monopolar group, however, it was not statistically significant (24% vs 14%; p = 0.23). A higher proportion of patients in bipolar group did not have thermal artifacts when compared with monopolar group (27.5% vs 5%; p < 0.0001).

The operative risks of bipolar TURBT such as obturator jerk, bladder perforation, and blood loss are comparable with monopolar resection. However, less thermal artifacts in tissue samples obtained with bipolar resection may be helpful to the pathologist in interpretation of histopathologic findings.