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Updated: May 22, 2025
Surgical Treatment for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate HoLEP.
Published on: March 6, 2018
Assessing peri-operative antibiotic administration practices amongst urologic surgeons performing holmium laser
Seyed Mohammad Mohaghegh Poor1, Hafsa Asif2, Darion Denis-Diaz2
1Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA.
Purpose:
Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (HoLEP) is a size-independent surgical treatment for benign prostatic hypertrophy. There is currently a lack of data on peri-operative antibiotic prescribing patterns for HoLEP and, thus, no consensus on optimal practices. This study aims to assess peri-operative antibiotic prescribing practices for HoLEP.
Methods:
Members of the Endourological Society (EUS) were invited by e-mail to complete a REDCap survey. The survey inquired about surgeons' practice setting, training, surgical volume, antibiotic prescribing practices and explored different factors that might affect antibiotic choice and duration. A p-value of < 0.05 was determined to be statistically significant.
Results:
A total of 70 Urologists (66 male, 4 female) reported that they performed an average of 108 HoLEPs per year with a mean clinical experience of 11 years. In the case of a negative pre-operative urine culture with a patient who is not catheterized/intermittently self-catheterizing (C/ISC), 96% of urologists would only give a single peri-operative dose of antibiotic. If the patient is C/ISC then 49% of Urologists would give more than a single dose of peri-operative antibiotic when the urine culture is negative. If the pre-operative urine culture is negative, 39% of surgeons would prescribe post-operative antibiotics even when the patient is not C/ISC and this increased to 64% if the patient is C/ISC. The most common factors urologists considered when prescribing antibiotic prophylaxis/therapy were positive urine culture, catheterization status, and a history of recurrent UTIs. Non-academic urologists administered post-operative prophylaxis more often (p < 0.05) and urologists with more experience treated a positive urine culture for a shorter period.
Conclusion:
There is significant variability for peri-operative antibiotic prescribing practices prior to HoLEP. In general, more antibiotics are prescribed if the patient has a history of C/ISC or infection. Further clinical studies are needed to identify optimal antibiotic prescribing protocols prior to HoLEP.
