ABSTRACT
The clinical features and outcome of surgery for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) were studied retrospectively in Asir during the period between 1987 and 1993. Two hundred and fifty-three patients were included. The mean and median ages were both 70 years. The main presentation were acute retention (54%), prostatism (39%), and chronic retention (6.8%). Thirty-five and five-tenths percent of the patients had one or more pre-existing medical problems. Two hundred and forty-eight patients underwent prostatectomy. Open surgery constituted 26.6%, while transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) was carried out in 73.4%. There was neither intraoperative death nor postoperative failure of voiding. The perioperative mortality rate was 0.8%. The main perioperative complications were bacteriuria in 48%, and significant bleeding requiring blood transfusion of three units or more in 20.6%. Histopathology revealed benign disease in 93.2% of the specimens and adenocarcinoma in 6.8%. It is concluded that the Saudi BPH patient in Asir presents late with acute retention of urine more often than in other places and so noninvasive therapeutic modalities may be less helpful.
