Perioperative data, postoperative outcomes, and adverse events within 24 months in 70 patients with RUR were compared to 113 men with no urinary retention (NUR) before surgery.

Follow-up for the two groups was as follows (RUR vs. NUR at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months): peak urinary flow rate: 16.9 vs. 19.4ml/s, 16.3 vs. 20.9ml/s, 17.7 vs. 19.7ml/s, 18.2 vs. 21ml/s, and 19.4 vs. 23.3ml/s; International Prostate Symptom Score: 7.6 vs. 10.7, 7 vs. 7.5, 5.7 vs. 6.2, 5.5 vs. 6.5, and 4.4 vs. 6.5, respectively. Postoperative urinary retention and complication rates were comparable for the two groups. In five patients (2.7%), a reoperation with PVP or transurethral resection of the prostate was necessary. Bladder neck contracture and urethral stricture developed in 0.5% (n=1) and 4.9% (n=9), respectively.

PVP seems to be a safe and effective surgical tool in patients with RUR caused by prostatic enlargement. The complication rate is comparable to that of patients with NUR before PVP.

Robin Ruszat^a, Stephen Wyler^a, Hans-Helge Seifert^a, Oliver Reich^b, Thomas Forster^a, Tullio Sulser^a, Alexander Bachmann<sup>a

a</sup> Department of Urology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
^b Department of Urology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany

Accepted 13 January 2006 published online 3 February 2006.