Among 141 men who underwent transurethral resection of the prostate from late 1979 to early 1980 followup for 10 years was done, registering total mortality rate and individual dates of death. The mortality of the group was compared to an age-matched group from the background population of men for each of the 10 years. During the observation period the mortality of the group as a whole as well as that of the patients 65 years old or older at operation were equal to that of the background population at all times. Withholding recommendation of transurethral resection of the prostate in favor of other types of prostatic surgery on the grounds of a higher long-term mortality rate is not supported by our material.