Clinical Value of a Routine Urine Culture Prior to Transrectal Prostate Biopsy.

Background: Infectious complications after a transrectal prostate biopsy may be severe. In Sweden, a routine culture prior to all prostate biopsies was introduced to enable targeted antimicrobial prophylaxis and reduce postbiopsy infections.

Objective: To investigate whether a clinical routine with a urine culture prior to a prostate biopsy and targeted prophylactic antibiotic therapy reduces postbiopsy infections.