Contemporary prostate biopsy complication rates in community-based urology practice.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether the increased number of rectal perforations associated with contemporary transrectal ultrasound-guided, 12-core prostate biopsy, with a periprostatic block, is associated with a greater rate of postprocedural complications.
METHODS: We prospectively studied 1000 patients undergoing contemporary transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsy and compared the rates of complicated urinary tract infection and significant rectal bleeding with the rates in our previous report of complications using a then-standard, 6-core biopsy technique, without a periprostatic block.
RESULTS: Three patients developed complicated urinary tract infections, two of which were with ciprofloxacin-resistant organisms. This was not a significant different statistically from our earlier report. Seven patients had significant rectal bleeding requiring endoscopic intervention. This rate also was not significantly different statistically from our earlier report.
CONCLUSIONS: Our infection and rectal bleeding complications associated with contemporary transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsy were low. We experienced a small, nonstatistically significant, increase in the complicated urinary tract infection rate and a small, nonstatistically significant, increase in the rectal bleeding rate in association with the transition from an eight-core, no periprostatic block, technique to the contemporary technique.