The effect of local hypothermia on blood loss during transurethral resection of the prostate.

A prospective trial to investigate the effect of using cold irrigating solution during transurethral resection of the prostate was carried out. A control group of 44 patients was resected using irrigant at room temperature, and a trial group of 49 cases was resected using irrigant cooled to 2 degrees C. Blood loss during surgery was measured to see whether the cold irrigating solution had any effect on this loss. There was a small reduction in blood loss in the cold group, but this reduction was not statistically significant (0.5 greater than P greater than 0.3).