Major surgical complications from minor urological procedures.

Some urological procedures are regarded as minor or simple. As a result, these may be delegated to trainee surgeons to do. Occasionally nonmedical persons embark on some of the procedures such as male circumcision. Published serious complications from urological procedures considered minor or simple were identified from a Medline search (1966 through 1999) and reference lists of relevant publications. The operations regarded as minor were carried out by medical personnel of all grades as well as by nonmedical persons. The complications can be classified as mutilatory, infective, hemorrhagic, or obstructive. Although the mutilatory complications affect mainly procedures on the penis, infective and hemorrhagic complications affect almost all the procedures. Tumor implantation has occurred along needle biopsy tracts. Although many of the complications are not related to technique or competence, a plea is made for the awareness of their occurrence to encourage preventive strategies. Adequate training of surgical personnel remains essential worldwide.