Prostatic abscess

Abstract

Chitty (1957), reporting on prostatic abscess from the Bristol Department of Urology, suggested that the treatment of choice was transurethral resection of the entire gland. Over the 10 years since this initial report our experience has amply confirmed this view and a further series of 67 patients is now analysed. It would appear that there is no absolute means of establishing the diagnosis, either from the history or the clinical findings, and that even when the diagnosis is suspected it may only be confirmed by resection of the gland. The abscesses are not infrequently multiple and thus a simple saucerization of one cavity may leave further significant foci undiscovered. A full transurethral prostatectomy is therefore the treatment of choice. This policy of radical treatment by the transurethral route has been followed by minimal postoperative complications or recurrence.