Early Catheter Removal and Reduced Length of Hospital Stay Following Transurethral Prostatectomy: A Retrospective Analysis of 100 Consecutive Patients

Abstract

We reviewed the charts of 100 consecutive patients who underwent transurethral prostatectomy between January 1986 and April 1987. Average length of hospital stay was 2.9 days, which was considerably shorter than that reported previously in the literature. We usually hospitalize patients on the day of the operation and remove the catheters the following morning. A total of 15 patients required reinsertion of the catheter for hemorrhage or retention. Of these patients 13 had 1 or more of 3 predisposing risk factors (preoperative total urinary retention, preoperative gross hematuria or resected prostatic specimen weight greater than 30 gm). We conclude that early removal of the catheter and reduced lengths of hospitalization will be safe for the majority of patients.