Effect of preoperative finasteride on perioperative blood loss during transurethral resection of the prostate and on microvessel density in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia: An open label randomized controlled trial

Department of Urology, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India.

Urology annals. 2021;13(3):199-204

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Abstract
OBJECTIVE Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is a common procedure for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Previous studies on the effect of 5-alpha reductase inhibitors on perioperative blood loss in TURP and microvessel density (MVD) in the prostate are equivocal. We evaluated whether pretreatment with finasteride for 2 weeks before surgery can reduce perioperative blood loss in TURP and MVD in the prostate. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty-eight patients of BPH planned for TURP were randomized into two groups. The study group comprising 34 patients was treated with finasteride (5 mg/day) for 2 weeks and the placebo group comprising 34 patients received placebo for 2 weeks, before TURP. Blood loss was measured in terms of a reduction in the blood hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (HCT) levels between preoperative values and 24 h after surgery. MVD was measured in the resected prostate tissue stained with anti-CD31 monoclonal antibody. RESULTS The reduction of Hb and HCT in the finasteride group was significantly lower than the reduction in the placebo group (P < 0.05). The artery (P = 0.005), vein (P = 0.05), and gland (P = 0.008) densities were significantly less in the finasteride group than in the placebo group. There was no significant correlation between blood loss and MVD. CONCLUSIONS Our study suggests a clear advantage of the preoperative use of finasteride for 2 weeks by reducing the perioperative blood loss in TURP in patients with BPH. While there is a significant reduction in MVD in the prostate on treatment with finasteride, it is not clear that this is the mechanism of reduction in blood loss in TURP.
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Language : eng
Credits : Bibliographic data from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine