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Is urine culture routinely necessary before prostate biopsy?

Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases volume 13, pages 260–262 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the value of a urine bacterial culture performed before prostate biopsy. We performed a prospective study on 353 patients who underwent prostate biopsy. All patients had a urine bacterial culture performed before biopsy. We compared the outcomes of patients with bacteriuria (left untreated) with those of patients without bacteriuria. Of the 353 men, 12 had a pre-biopsy-positive bacterial culture and underwent prostate biopsy without any infectious complication. Fifteen patients with a negative pre-biopsy culture developed a post-biopsy-positive bacterial culture, but remained asymptomatic without any treatment. Only four men from the group without pre-biopsy bacteriuria developed an infectious complication, requiring 3 weeks of antibiotic therapy. The complication rates were similar for both groups. Our results suggest that routine urine bacterial culture before prostate biopsy is not useful when antibiotic prophylaxis and enema are performed. We do, however, suggest performing a urine bacterial culture before prostate biopsy for patients with a previous history of urinary tract infections.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Florence Claudit for data management.

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  1. Department of Urology, University Hospital of Tours, Loire Valley, France

    F Bruyère, B F d'Arcier, J-M Boutin & O Haillot

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  1. F Bruyère
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  2. B F d'Arcier
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  3. J-M Boutin
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  4. O Haillot
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Correspondence to F Bruyère.

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Bruyère, F., d'Arcier, B., Boutin, JM. et al. Is urine culture routinely necessary before prostate biopsy?. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis 13, 260–262 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/pcan.2010.8

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