title: Major surgery to manage definitively severe complications of salvage cryotherapy for prostate cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Severe complications of salvage cryotherapy may be debilitating and chronic but these complications may be managed by definitive extirpative surgical procedures. We evaluated the effectiveness of the major surgical procedures performed to manage these complications, and assessed patient survival and complications after extirpative surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between 1992 and 1995 salvage cryotherapy was performed in 150 men with biopsy proved, locally recurrent prostate cancer after radiotherapy and/or systemic therapy. We retrospectively reviewed patient charts to assess the complications managed by extirpative surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Extirpative surgery was performed in 6 of the 150 patients for serious complications, including uncontrollable hematuria, osteitis pubis, rectourethral fistula, refractory perineal pain, bladder outlet obstruction and complete urinary incontinence. Cystoprostatectomy was done in 4 patients, of whom 3 also underwent en bloc pubic symphysectomy. In the remaining 2 men salvage prostatectomy was performed with bladder neck closure and continent catheterizable stomal creation. Surgery successfully managed severe cryotherapy complications in all 6 cases. The complications of extirpative surgery included superficial wound infection in 1 patient and 3 incisional hernias in another. Prostate specific antigen was undetectable in 4 of the 6 men at 36, 38, 39 and 42 months, and detectable in 2 at 31 and 41 months, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Extirpative surgery may successfully alleviate severe salvage cryotherapy complications without major additive morbidity. Long survival duration justifies extirpative surgery in select patients with severe complications of salvage cryotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, 77030, USA.
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Izawa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ajam
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: McGuire
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: von Eschenbach
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Skibber
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Pisters
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000601:surgery*; D003452:Cryosurgery / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000601:surgery; D010000:Osteitis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D011468:Prostatectomy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D011630:Pubic Bone; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016879:Salvage Therapy; D014570:Urologic Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery