Femoral vein blood flow during transurethral resection of the prostate

To determine whether bladder distension affects venous haemodynamics during transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) such that irrigating fluid is more easily absorbed.

The right common femoral vein was examined using an ultrasound Doppler blood-flow scanner in 10 patients (mean age 73 years, range 63-80) undergoing TURP. Measurements of blood flow were performed before, during and after the bladder was filled with irrigating solution. Fluid absorption was measured by the ethanol method.

Measurements before, half-way through and immediately after the resection all showed that the luminal diameter and the cross-sectional area of the femoral vein increased significantly when the bladder was filled with irrigating fluid. Furthermore, a decrease in the normal variation of blood flow with breathing often occurred when the bladder was filled, indicating that proximal venous obstruction was the cause of the increase in vessel diameter. However, there was no apparent association between these changes and the absorption of irrigating fluid.

Filling the bladder with irrigating fluid with the patient in the lithotomy position during TURP was followed by signs of iliac venous obstruction but this did not correlate with the absorption of irrigating fluid.