Abstract

Introduction: Transrectal ultrasound guided biopsy of the prostate is routinely performed without local anesthesia to diagnose and stage prostate cancer. We prospectively evaluated the incidence of pain and complications of 6 versus 10 cores biopsies.

Materials and Methods: We prospectively studied 233 patients who underwent transrectal ultrasound guided prostate needle biopsy. Immediate complications were recorded during the procedure. Information on delayed complications was obtained at the follow up (1 week postoperatively) when the patients came for the control with their pathology reports.

Results: Almost two thirds of the patients tolerated the procedure with minimal discomfort 148 (63.6%). There was no correlation between pain and number and location of prostate biopsies. Analgesia decreased the pain in patients. The most common complication was hematuria (74 patients (31%)). 2 patients (0.8%) had sepsis as major complications. Hematochezia was seen in 62 patients (27%) urinary retention was seen in 10 patients (4.2%) and Hematospermia in 16 patients (6.8%).

Conclusion: 10 core transrectal ultrasound guided needle biopsy is well tolerated and can be safely performed with no significant difference in pain or morbidity compared to the 6-core procedure.