Transurethral Resection

Dr Silber's book on transurethral resection is generally well written and covers the preoperative, operative, and postoperative problems well. It contains no new material however. All techniques described have been described previously. The material is condensed and well organized, easily readable, and the illustrations are excellent. However, many of the references to mortality and morbidity are ten to 15 years old and I do not believe apply today. Let us remember that these are Dr Silber's present methods but that there are other excellent alternative methods. Dr Silber casually discredits open prostatectomy and quotes a 1.8% mortality. Mortality for the procedure today is probably less than one half of 1%. The open procedure is also excellent for very large glands or when there are associated vesical diverticula or calculi. If done properly, the results are as good as by a transurethral resection of the prostate. As far as the technique