Open Access

ARTICLE

Short term complications from transurethral resection of bladder tumor

Justin R. Gregg¹, Benjamin McCormick¹, Li Wang², Paul Cohen¹, Daniel Sun¹, David F. Penson¹, Joseph A. Smith¹, Peter E. Clark¹, Michael S. Cookson³, Daniel A. Barocas¹, Matthew J. Resnick¹, Kelvin A. Moses¹, Sam S. Chang¹

1 Department of Urologic Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
2 Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
3 Department of Urology, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
Address correspondence to Dr. Justin R. Gregg, Department of Urologic Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 1301 Medical Center Drive, #3501, Nashville, TN 37232 USA

Canadian Journal of Urology 2016, 23(2), 8198-8203.

Abstract

Introduction: The diagnosis and subsequent management of bladder cancer often involves transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT). Risks of TURBT include perioperative complications such as bleeding, pain and perforation. We aimed to determine TURBT complication rates and risk factors in a contemporary series.
Materials and methods: From 2002 to 2011, 505 patients underwent TURBT either for suspected bladder cancer or during follow up at a single institution. Baseline patient characteristics and complications within 2 weeks of surgery were extracted from the electronic medical record for all TURBTs. Patient and tumor characteristics were evaluated for associations with complication using univariate analysis. A multivariable logistic regression was fit to further examine associations between TURBT related characteristics and complication.
Results: A total of 910 TURBTs were performed on 505 patients. Overall complication rate was 8.1%. The most common complications were pain or spasm (3.0%), retention (2.8%), and infection (2.1%), and 0.5% of TURBTs had perforation. Over 85% of complications were Clavien-Dindo grade I or II. Forty-three patients had a complication after their first TURBT, while 25 had complications after subsequent TURBTs. Prior complication and single tumor, but not other patient or tumor-related characteristics, were associated with complication. Only prior complication (p < 0.01) was associated with subsequent complication after TURBT on multivariable analysis.
Conclusions: Complication rate after TURBT is 8.1% and complications are generally not severe in nature. Prior short term complication is likely associated with subsequent complication. Further studies are needed to validate these results and determine patient groups most at risk for intraoperative and post TURBT complications.

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