The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the most serious complications which have tended to discredit transurethral resection and to suggest certain refinements in the technic of operation which have been demonstrated to avoid them. These complications are, first, infection and sepsis during the immediate postoperative period; second, traumatic stricture of the pendulous portion of the urethra, and, third, persisting urinary dysfunction, with cloudy infected urine, delayed urinary sepsis and occasional recurrent hematuria.
Transurethral resection has become an accepted procedure by all urologists, but little agreement exists regarding the indications for and limitations on this operation. Many able and experienced surgeons believe that it should be performed only for small median lobe hypertrophies, median bars and vesical neck contractures. Other genito-urinary surgeons of equal experience and skill in prostatic operations feel that all obstructive lesions of the bladder outlet, regardless of size, should be dealt with by