The catheterized patient undergoing transurethral resection of the prostate: a survey of the current practice of British urologists

OBJECTIVE To determine, using a postal questionnaire survey of practising British consultant urologists, the duration and type of antibiotic deemed most effective in patients with an existing indwelling catheter before transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), as the value of prophylactic antibiotics before TURP is well recognized, but no data are available. METHODS A questionnaire was posted to each of the 321 practising consultant urologists listed in the handbook of the British Association of Urological Surgeons (1998). A hypothetical situation in the opening statement proposed ‘a patient with an indwelling catheter is to undergo TURP’. The type, timing and duration of prophylactic antibiotic usage were elicited by circling the appropriate response from a choice of several possibilities. RESULTS In all, 250 questionnaires were returned; 98% of respondents recognized the importance of the prophylactic use of antibiotics in catheterized patients undergoing TURP, and routinely use them. Most urologists (53%) use more than one dose, with most of these preferring a second dose on catheter removal (60%). CONCLUSION The magnitude and diversity of response suggests uncertainty about the appropriate prophylaxis in such patients, and the need for further studies to clarify this situation.