Post-Prostate Biopsy Infections a Significant Global Problem

PARIS—Infectious complications following a transrectal prostate biopsy have become a significant health problem globally, data presented at the 27^th Annual Congress of the European Association of Urology suggest.

A multinational study that included a total of 294 men who underwent a transrectal prostate biopsy at 51 centers showed that symptomatic UTI post-biopsy occurred in 6% of cases and febrile UTI in 5%. In addition, 4% of patients had to be hospitalized after biopsy. These complications probably cause more than 100,000 hospitalizations per year worldwide due to febrile urinary tract infection (UTI) or urosepsis, according to a research team led by Florian M.E. Wagenlehner, MD, of Justus-Liebig-University in Giessen, Germany.

Fluoroquinolone resistance among causative pathogens was the major risk factor for infectious complications post-biopsy. The study did not reveal any patient-specific or procedure-related risk factor.