CHANGING PATTERNS OF PROSTATECTOMY IN SCOTLAND - 1971-1989

Analysis of 81,374 prostatectomies performed in Scotland between 1971 and 1989 showed that the annual prostatectomy rate (per 100,000 men) i ncreased 3-fold for procedures performed by urologists, but remained s tatic for general surgeons. In 1971, transurethral prostatectomy compr ised 16% of all prostatectomies performed by general surgeons and 55% of those performed by urologists, but by 1989 it comprised 93% of pros tatectomies performed by general surgeons and 96.5% of those performed by urologists. The relative increase in the annual number of prostate ctomies was greatest (2.61) in the older age group (80-89 years) and s mallest (1.76) in the younger age group (60-69 years). The relative in crease in the age-specific prostatectomy rate was greatest (1.79) in t he youngest age group (50-59 years) and smallest (1.54) in the oldest age group (80-89 years). This indicates that the increase in the annua l number of prostatectomies performed in the older age groups is large ly the result of an increase in the number of elderly men in the popul ation, but this is compounded by an expansion of the indications for p rostatectomy in all age groups.