Total retropubic prostatectomy for carcinoma of the prostate.

Results in 96 patients who had total retropubic prostatectomy were reviewed. The most common complications were impotence and difficulty with urinary control. The most serious were rectal injury and vesical neck contracture. Twenty-eight of 33 patients who were followed for five years after operation and eight of twelve who were followed for ten years were alive without evidence of recurrence of cancer. Evidence of recurrence was found only in patients in whom cancer had spread beyond the parenchyma of the prostate before operation. There were no operative deaths.