Gender, BMI impact bladder perforation during resection

(HealthDay) -- For patients with bladder tumors, female gender, low body mass index, and tumor characteristics correlate with the risk of bladder perforation during transurethral resection, according to research published in the May issue of The Journal of Urology.

To investigate risk factors for bladder perforation, Kathleen Herkommer, M.D., from Technische Universität München in Munich, Germany, and colleagues retrospectively reviewed records from 1,284 patients who underwent transurethral resection of bladder tumors between 1986 and 2006.

The researchers found that 89.8 percent of the 49 bladder perforations were extraperitoneal. The risk of bladder perforation correlated significantly with gender (7.2 percent for female versus 2.6 percent for male; P < 0.001); body mass index (<25 kg/m², 5.5 percent; 25 to 30 kg/m², 3.4 percent; >30 kg/m², 0.6 percent; P = 0.016); and with more advanced tumor stage, greater infiltration depth, and higher resection weight. There was no association seen between bladder perforation and patient age, nicotine use, gross hematuria at diagnosis, transurethral catheterization, bladder stones, number of tumors, or tumor grade.

"Aside from tumor characteristics female gender and low body mass index were risk factors for inadvertent bladder perforation during transurethral resection of bladder tumors," the authors write.