Complications and Success Rate of Transrectal Systematic Sextant Biopsy of the Prostate under the Finger Guidance

Hwang, Kook Hyeong; Lee, Sang Don; Chung, Moon Kee

Abstract

The complications and the patients' attitude after transrectal systematic sextant biopsy of the prostate were evaluated by the questionnaire retrospectively. One hundred and sixty one of 211 men over 50 years old responded to the questionnaire. Transrectal sextant biopsy of the prostate under the finger guidance was performed by two doctors using Biopty Gun. The first 85 men (group A) received glycerin enema and oral administration of norfloxacin 30 minutes before the biopsy and norfloxacin was administered once again two to three hours after the biopsy. The other 126 men (group B) received the same procedures but the enema was performed using mixture of glycerin & betadine solution and the norfloxacin was administered 30 minutes before and for 3 days after the biopsy. Benign prostatic hyperplasia was diagnosed pathologically in 190 cases(90.1%) and prostate cancer in 8 cases(3.8%). No complication was less found in group A(23.4%) than in group B(40.5%)(P<0.05). Reported complications were perineal tenderness (group A: 42.9%,group B: 31.0%), hematuria (group A: 32.5%, group B: 34.5%), hemospermia (group A: 29.99%, group B: 19.0%), rectal bleeding (group A: 11.7%, group B: 11.9%), fever (group A: 15.69%, group B: 6.0%) and scrotal tenderness (group A: 2.6%, group B: 3.6%). In group A sepsis was developed in one case. Perineal tenderness lasted for 6.7 days in group A 5.1 days in group B. Hematuria was observed for 9.7 days in group A, 7.5 days in group B. Hemospermia was seen for 28.1 days in group A, 13.7 days in group B. Average duration of complications was shorter in group B (P<0.05). The better they understand the procedure of the biopsy, the less pain and the more satisfaction they experience. the rate of failure in obtaining tissue cores was 6.2%. If the doctor experiences more than about 120 cores of the tissue, the learning curve of success rate to obtain the proper specimens arrives to its plateau. In conclusion, the incidence of complications may be decreased by using appropriate pretreatment, especially adequate amount of antibiotics. Patient education is one of the most important steps to reduce the complications of this invasive technique.