Septicemia after transurethral prostatectomy.

Septicemia occurred in 18 of 1,604 patients subjected to transurethral resection (TUR) of the prostate. Six patients died postoperatively, 4 of septicemia. In 11 patients septicemia was provoked by TUR in the presence of urinary infection and in the absence of appropriate antibiotic cover. Septicemia was provoked by catheter removal in 2 similarly infected patients. In the remaining 5 patients the urine was sterile at operation but became infected prior to catheter removal, and this maneuver precipitated septicemia.