Persistence or recurrence of symptoms after transurethral resection of the prostate: a urodynamic assessment

Approximately 15 to 20% of patients who undergo transurethral resection of the prostate for benign prostatic hyperplasia have persistent or recurrent voiding symptoms requiring further therapy. To elucidate the etiology of these voiding abnormalities, the urodynamic findings of 129 consecutive men (mean age 72 years) with post-transurethral resection voiding symptoms were retrospectively analyzed with respect to symptoms, uroflowmetry and synchronous video pressure-flow cystometry. Our findings revealed obstruction in 38% of the patients, impaired contractility in 25% and intrinsic sphincter deficiency in 8%. Among 80 patients without neurological disorders involuntary bladder contractions were detected in 50%. However, in 49 patients with neurological disorders involuntary bladder contractions were detected in 76%. This difference was statistically significant. There were 15 patients who failed 2 or more transurethral resections of the prostate, and involuntary bladder contractions were detected in 80%, obstruction in 27%, impaired contractility in 27% and sphincteric incontinence in 20%. Our study reveals residual or recurrent obstruction to be a contributing factor in less than half of all patients who fail transurethral resection of the prostate. Furthermore, patients with a concomitant neurological disorder and those who have undergone more than 1 transurethral resection of the prostate have a significantly higher incidence of involuntary bladder contractions. These results underscore the importance of obtaining complete urodynamic assessment in patients with persistent or recurrent voiding symptoms following transurethral resection of the prostate to guide appropriate therapy.