Hospitalization risk following prostate biopsy higher than thought

Transrectal ultrasound-guided needle biopsy of the prostate.
(Illustration courtesy of National Institute of Diabetes and
Kidney Diseases)

Sept. 23, 2011 – Cancer Digest – Men who undergo prostate biopsy for suspected cancer are more than twice as likely to be hospitalized within a month of the biopsy compared to men who don’t have the procedure, a new study shows.


The study led by Dr. Edward Schaeffer, associate professor at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, shows that about 7 percent of the men in the study who had the needle biopsy ended up needing hospitalization afterward, mostly due to infections, although bleeding and other illnesses contributed to the higher rate. That compared to 2.9 percent of group of men in the study who did not undergo biopsy. The study appeared online in the Journal of Urology and was reported on by MedPage Today.

The study involved 17, 472 men who underwent prostate biopsy from 1991 to 2007, and a random comparison group who did not have the procedure. A total of 1,209 of the biopsy group were hospitalized within 30 days of the procedure.

The study also found that the rate of infections increased during the later years of the study, which was surprising to the researchers. All men undergoing biopsy in the U.S. are given antibiotics prior to the procedure in an attempt to prevent infections. The study authors suggested that this may be contributing to a rise in the number organisms that are resistant to current anti-infection drugs.

The authors concluded that while the study shows the chance of being hospitalized following prostate biopsy is less than 7 percent the risk is about twice as high as previously thought and it is important that men carefully evaluate the necessity of a biopsy and understand the risk of serious complications that can occur.

MedPage Today