Trends in a Danish urologic department during the years 1979 and 1984

During recent years several international studies have shown increasing rates of prostatectomy over the past decade. In Denmark the number of prostatectomies increased by 43% in the period 1977-85. This development is still unexplained, but one of the answers is very intriguing, proposing a shift in indications for prostatectomy. Therefore we retrospectively examined the records of 207 patients in 1979 and 243 patients in 1984, admitted with a diagnosis of benign hyperplasia of the prostate (BPH). In these patients respectively 164 and 149 prostatectomies were performed in the same years, at the Department of Urology, Glostrup County hospital. We found no evidence of a change in indications towards a more liberal attitude as suspected, but in contrast, we discovered a more conservative attitude. Because the national rates since 1984 have been stable, we conclude, that the development in a specialized urologic Department can serve as a predictor for the development on a larger national scale.