A review of 1486 transurethral resections of the prostate in a teaching hospital.

The authors reviewed retrospectively 1486 consecutive transurethral resections of the prostate (TURP) gland performed in a teaching hospital between 1985 and 1987. The death rate was 0.8% in an institution where senior residents were the primary resectionists in approximately 75% of TURPs. The results of this review are compared with those of a 1974 study of 2223 patients. They indicated that TURP was a reasonably well-tolerated surgical procedure in the training environment and was associated with lower mortality and morbidity and a shorter hospital stay for the patient than in the 1974 study. The authors believe that with proper supervision and instruction, resident urologists can obtain satisfactory results while gaining competence and experience in performing TURPs.