Safety of Transurethral Surgery in the Early Postoperative Period Following an Open Cardiac Procedure

A retrospective investigation was performed to determine whether patients undergoing transurethral surgery soon after cardiac surgery experienced increased morbidity or mortality rates. From 1986 to 1990, 24 patients first underwent open heart surgery and then either transurethral prostatectomy, bladder tumor resection or bladder cup biopsy during the same hospital stay. Postoperative complications included significant hematuria in 2 patients (8%), mild stress incontinence in 1 (4%) and bladder perforation in 1. One patient died of a spontaneous pneumothorax 17 days after the urological operation. None of these patients had had a previous myocardial infarction. The outcome of these patients was compared to that of 115 men who underwent transurethral prostatectomy for presumed benign disease during 1990. Complications of transurethral prostatectomy in this group included significant gross hematuria in 5 men, while 6 experienced urinary retention (1), atrial fibrillation (1), delirium (1), myocardial infarction (1), seizure (1) and intraoperative urethral injury (1). There was 1 death from multiple postoperative complications. Morbidity and mortality rates did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. Transurethral surgery performed after cardiac surgery during the same hospital stay appears to be safe, provided the patient is stable.