[A case of pulmonary embolism following total prostatectomy]

A 73-year-old man presented to our hospital complaining of dysuria and nocturia. The examination revealed prostatic cancer. Metastatic cancer was not revealed by the examination. He underwent total prostatectomy and iliac lymphadenectomy. Pathological examination of the surgical specimen revealed moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma of the prostate with right iliac lymph node metastasis. On the 33rd postoperative day, he suddenly developed chest pain, dyspnea, tachycardia, and tachypnea. Arterial PO2 was 62 mmHg, and chest X-ray showed right ventricular hypertrophy. Pulmonary perfusion scan revealed multiple cold areas throughout both lung fields. The diagnosis was pulmonary embolism and anti-coagulant therapy was immediately successful in resolving his symptoms. We suggest that pulmonary embolism should be considered as one of the postoperative complications of urological operations.