Background:

The diagnosis of prostate cancer is accomplished with the use of prostatic biopsy. Although the transperineal access has emerged and been used more commonly, the transrectal approach is still the most performed globally. Infectious complications following biopsy are the most important and serious. The use of prophylactic antibiotics is a common practice. Fluoroquinolones have been the most used antibiotics worldwide and remain the first option before prostate biopsy. However, the resistance to these antibiotics has been rising dramatically in the last decades. Resistance shows different numbers in each country and region. The choice of antibiotic will depend on the local sensibilities reported.

Aim:

To determine de prevalence of fluoroquinolone and othe antibiotic resistance in patients that come to our hospital for a prostate biopsy.

Material and methods:

We performed a rectal swab in patients in whom a prostate biopsy was performed. Culture results were obtained and a descriptive analysis of resistance and sensibilities were obtained.

Results:

We performed 126 rectal swabs. The main microorganism found in rectal cultures was E.coli. In our study we found a resistance to fluoroquinolones of 83%. The highest sensibility was for carbapenemics. None of our patients developed infectious complications.

Conclusion:

We found a resistance rate in rectal flora before prostate biopsy of 83% to fluoroquinolones. We didn´t observe infectious complications in the patients included in our study. The use of antibiotics, bowel preparation, and negative urine culture diminish the possibilities of infectious complications. Although transperineal biopsy offers a minimal risk of infection, patients show more symptoms following this procedure. To our knowledge there are no reports of antibiotic resistance in rectal flora in our population.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )