Complications and early postoperative outcome after open prostatectomy in patients with benign prostatic enlargement: Results of a prospective multicenter study

Purpose: We prospectively analyzed the complications and immediate postoperative outcome of open prostatectomy for benign prostatic hyperplasia to provide reference data for emerging techniques, such as holmium laser enucleation of the prostate and laparoscopic prostatectomy. Materials and Methods: A total of 902 patients with a mean 1 SD age of 71.3 +/- 6.8 years were evaluated while undergoing open prostatectomy in Bavaria, Germany from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2003. We prospectively analyzed 54 parameters concerning preoperative status, surgical details, complications and immediate outcome. Results: Mean operative time was 80.8 +/- 34.2 minutes. Mean prostate size was 96.3 +/- 37.4 ml. Average enucleated tissue was 84.8 +/- 44.0 gm. Incidental carcinoma of the prostate was found in 28 of 902 patients (3.1%) and the mortality rate was 0.2%. The overall complication rate was 17.3%. The most relevant complications were bleeding requiring transfusion in 68 cases (7.5%), urinary tract infection in 46 (5.1%) and surgical revision due to severe bleeding in 33 (3.7%). Patients had an average International Prostate Symptom Score of 20.7 +/- 7.6 preoperatively. Mean urinary peak flow rate increased significantly to 23.1 +/- 10.5 ml per second from a baseline of 10.6 +/- 6.4 ml per second (p < 0.0001). Post-void residual volume decreased to 17.5 +/- 34.8 ml from a baseline of 145.1 +/- 152.8 ml (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Open prostatectomy showed a satisfactory early postoperative outcome with a complication rate that was within the expected range compared to that in the recent literature. It represents an important option in the treatment of patients with significant benign enlargement of the prostate for surgeons with no access to modern techniques, such as holmium laser enucleation of the prostate or laparoscopy.