Transurethral resection of the prostate (TUR-P) and associated risk of infective endocarditis

Purpose: Bacteremia is a well-known complication to surgery and may result in infective endocarditis (IE). Transurethral resection of the prostate (TUR-P) may give rise to bacteremia, but the associated risk of IE is not well described. We aimed to examine risk of infective endocarditis following TUR-P.

Methods: We examined risk of IE following TUR-P between 2010 and 2020 in comparison with an age-matched (match-ratio 1:1) cohort from the background population. Patients were considered exposed to TUR-P related IE 6 months after TUR-P. Comparisons were estimated using cumulative incidences and multivariable time-dependent Cox regression models.

Results: A total of 25,781 males underwent TUR-P (11.4% diagnosed with prostate cancer). Median age was 70.7 years (25-75 percentiles, 64.9-76.3 years). In the TUR-P group, 901 (3.5%) patients had bacteremia and 44 (0.2%) patients developed IE within 6 months following index. The most common microorganism in IE-cases was Enterococcus faecalis (72.7%). The incidence of IE was higher < 6 months after TUR-P (34.64 (25.78-46.55)) IEs per 10,000 person years) than 6-12 months after TUR-P (8.37 (5.46-12.84) IEs per 10,000 person years). TUR-P was associated with a higher hazard ratio of IE within 6 months (age-adjusted HR 8.16, 95% CI 3.06-21.79), but not 6-12 months after TUR-P (adj. HR 2.15 (0.91-5.07)).

Conclusions: TUR-P was associated with an eight-fold higher risk of IE compared with age-matched controls within 6 months after surgery. Although the absolute risk was low, TUR-P seems to be a significant risk factor for IE and this warrant consideration for development of better prophylactic interventions.