Summary Five cases are described in which the urethra was involved in mycobacterial inflammation. The diagnosis is difficult to establish, and unless antituberculous therapy is given, surgical intervention is hazardous.

The effect of Dicynene on blood loss during and after transurethral resection for benign enlargement of the prostate was studied in 76 patients. Median loss of blood at operation was 17 ml in those given Dicynene compared with 72 ml in the placebo group (p equals less than 0.001). Median postoperative blood loss was 38 ml in the Dicynene group, and 103 ml in the placebo group (p equals 0.05). Clinical evidence of deep vein thrombosis was found in neither group. Dicynene helps to reduce blood loss in transurethral resection.

SUMMARY A series of investigations were undertaken to study urinary infections following transurethral surgery. These showed that closed catheter drainage achieved an infection rate of 5 per cent. Continuous saline irrigation did not reduce this rate and may even increase it, as did prolonged catheter drainage. Patients with small resections, short resection times and minimal blood loss had a smaller risk of becoming infected. Infections associated with prolonged catheter drainage, unlike those associated with irrigation, tended to persist even after discharge from hospital.

Studies were carried out on a series of patients with chronic bacterial prostatitis and on a series of patients who had undergone vasectomy or prostatectomy, to determine whether cephalexin monohydrate could be found at a bacteriocidal level in semen and prostatic tissue. 500-mg and 1-g tablets were given prior to collecting semen samples or prostatectomy. Semen levels were obtained in 38 samples. The mean values obtained were 1.7 μg/ml after 500 mg of cephalexin and 2.76 μg/ ml after 1 g. Prostatic tissue levels were obtained in 21 samples. The mean values obtained were 0.88 and 3.91 μg/g, respectively. These low semen and prostatic tissue levels fall short of the MIC values of the flora that can be isolated from cases of chronic bacterial prostatitis, and it would seem likely that this antibiotic will be of little value in the treatment of this condition.

The risks of overwhelming post-splenectomy infection (OPSI) are now well documented both in children and adults. Although the incidence of OPSI is comparatively low following splenectomy for trauma, it has a high mortality. Splenectomy is no longer the treatment of choice for splenic injury and splenic salvage is recommended whenever feasible. Since 1982, in the Isle of Wight hospitals, 13 cases of splenic injury following trauma have been treated applying various salvage procedures and are reported here.