Blood loss during transurethral resection of the prostate as measured by the HemoCue photometer.

Blood loss was measured with the portable HemoCue photometer and the absorption of irrigating fluid was assessed by the ethanol method during 700 transurethral resections of the prostate. The blood loss ranged between 10 and 3,825 ml (median 300 ml). The weight of the resected prostatic tissue and the operating time were independent predictors of the amount of blood lost. General anaesthesia (n = 82) and malignant histology (n = 114) were associated with a smaller blood loss. In the patients who were given regional anaesthesia (n = 618), an mean systolic blood pressure of 100 mmHg or less resulted in a smaller bleed. Large-scale irrigating fluid absorption was typically associated with a blood loss of medium size and ranged between 500 and 1,000 ml. The incidence of such absorption was negligible in the patients in whom the blood loss per gram of resectate was less than 10 ml/g. Blood loss was also measured every 10 min during the course of another 110 operations, from which 20 patients with operating times in excess of 60 min were selected. Our analysis showed that no excessive blood loss occurred after 60 min of surgery.