Apical peri-prostatic nerve block versus intra-rectal xylocaine gel for trans- rectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy among Nigerian patients: A prospective randomized study.

AIMS: This study compared the analgesic effect of apical peri-prostatic block with that of intra-rectal xylocaine gel for trans-rectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy (TRUS-PBx) in Nigeria. METHODS: This is a prospective randomized comparative study carried out over one year in University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Edo State, Nigeria. The participants were randomized into two groups; Group A had 10 mls of intra-rectal xylocaine gel instillation while Group B had apical infiltration of 10 mls of 1% xylocaine all before TRUS-PBx. RESULT: There was a statistically significant difference in the mean pain score during and one hour after TRUS-PBx between Group A and Group B of the study population respectively (p < 0.0001). Those that had intra-rectal xylocaine gel (Group A) had more pain during and after biopsy. There was no difference in the mean pain score during probe insertion between the two groups (p = 0.952). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated the superiority of apical peri-prostatic nerve block over intra rectal xylocaine gel instillation during TRUS-PBx with respect to its anesthetic efficacy. Therefore, centers providing TRUS-PBx in Nigeria should consider apical peri-prostatic nerve block as their mode of anesthesia for the procedure due to its efficacy and high safety profile.

Detection of prostate cancer: comparison of cancer detection rates of sextant and extended ten-core biopsy protocols.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To compare the cancer detection rates of sextant and ten- core biopsy protocol amongst patients being evaluated for prostate cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a prospective study involving 125 men with suspicion of prostate cancer. They all had an extended 10-core transrectal digitally-guided prostatic biopsy using Tru-Cut needle. Indications for biopsy were presence of one or more of the following: elevated Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), abnormal Digital Rectal Examination (DRE) findings and abnormal prostate scan. Sextant biopsies were collected first, followed by four lateral biopsies in all patients. Both groups of specimen were kept and analyzsed separately by the same pathologist. The cancer detection rates of sextant and extended (combination of sextant and lateral) 10-core biopsy protocols were determined and compared. Pearson's Chi square and McNemar tests at two degrees of freedom with level of significance set at 0.05 ( P <0.005) were used to determine the statistical significance. RESULTS: The overall cancer detection rate of 10-core prostate biopsy was 48.8%. Of all positive biopsies, the sextant biopsy protocol detected 52 cancers (85.2%) while the lateral biopsy protocol detected 58 cases (95.1%). Three (3) cancers were detected by the sextant protocol only while the lateral protocol detected nine (9) cancers where sextant technique was negative for malignancy. Ten-core extended protocol showed a statistically significant increase of 14.8% over the traditional sextant. (P=0.046). The overall complication rate of ten-core biopsy was 26.4% and the procedure was well tolerated in most patients. CONCLUSION: We conclude that a ten-core prostate biopsy protocol significantly improves cancer detection and should be considered as the optimum biopsy protocol.

Is extended biopsy protocol justified in all patients with suspected prostate cancer?

OBJECTIVE: To determine the significance of an extended 10-core transrectal biopsy protocol in different categories of patients with suspected prostate cancer using digital guidance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 125 men who were being evaluated for prostate cancer. They all had an extended 10-core digitally guided transrectal prostatic biopsy done for either an elevated serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) or an abnormal digital rectal examination finding or both. Sextant biopsy samples were collected first, followed by additional four lateral biopsies in all patients. Both groups of specimens were analyzed separately. The cancer detection rates of both sextant and extended 10-core biopsy protocols at different PSA levels and digital rectal examination (DRE) findings were determined and compared. The level of significance of difference in cancer detection was determined using Pearson's Chi square test with level of significance set at <0.05. RESULTS: The overall cancer detection by the extended technique was 61 (48.8%) cases while the sextant protocol detected cancer in 52 cases. The 10-core extended protocol yielded an increase in cancer detection rate of 14.8% but the improvement in detection rate was only statistically significant in the sub-set of patients with PSA between 4.1 and 10 ng/mL, with or without abnormality on DRE, with an overall increase detection rate of 33%.(P=0.04) CONCLUSION: Our study has shown that a 10-core prostate biopsy protocol significantly improves cancer detection in patients with suspected early cancer. It should therefore be the optimum biopsy protocol for patients with gray-zone PSA value, with or without abnormal DRE.

The value of percentage free prostate specific antigen (PSA) in the detection of prostate cancer among patients with intermediate levels of total PSA (4.0-10.0 ng/mL) in Nigeria.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the value of percentage free prostate-specific antigen (%fPSA) in the detection of prostate cancer among Nigerian men with an intermediate total PSA level (4-10 ng/mL), and to show if the optimum threshold for biopsy is different from Caucasian values when the widely used (six-core, digitally directed) prostate biopsy protocol in Nigerians is applied. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included 105 patients aged >50 years, with a palpably benign prostate gland and intermediate levels of total PSA (4-10 ng/mL). These patients had a free PSA assay and a transrectal digitally directed six-core biopsy of the prostate. The %fPSA was calculated and the optimum threshold value for detecting prostate cancer was determined. RESULTS: The mean (SD) age of the patients was 64.4 (6.6) years and their mean (SD) total PSA level was 6.6 (1.7) ng/mL. Of these men 14 (13.3%) had cancer of the prostate detected by the prostate biopsy. The %fPSA level related directly to sensitivity values but inversely to the specificity and the positive predictive values. The best threshold of %fPSA for detecting cancer in these men was <40%, with a sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 93.4% and a positive predictive value of 70% (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In evaluating Nigerian patients with a palpably benign prostate gland and within the intermediate total PSA range, when digitally directed biopsy protocol is adopted, a %fPSA threshold of <40% will detect significant percentage of those with prostate cancer, with a minimal number of unnecessary biopsies. This value differs from that reported in western studies in which transrectal ultrasonography-directed biopsy was used.