Relationship between post‐void residual urine volume, preoperative pyuria and intravesical recurrence after transurethral resection of bladder carcinoma

Objectives To evaluate the relationship between residual urine volume, pyuria and bladder carcinoma recurrence. Methods The clinical data of 305 patients who had post‐void residual urine volume measured and preoperative pyuria were retrospectively collected. The patients were classified into three risk groups based on the presence of residual urine and pyuria: good (negative residual urine and pyuria), intermediate (positive residual urine or pyuria) and poor (positive residual urine and pyuria). Predictive factors for intravesical recurrence‐free survival were statistically analyzed using Cox proportional hazard models and Kaplan–Meier methods. The propensity score matching method was used to adjust the patients’ backgrounds. Results The median follow‐up period for all patients was 44 months. The presence of residual urine (P = 0.0164) and pyuria (P = 0.0233) were two independent prognostic factors for recurrence. After patients were classified into risk groups, the poor‐risk group showed significantly shorter recurrence‐free survival compared with that of the good‐ (P = 0.0002) and intermediate‐risk groups (P = 0.0090). Even after matching, the presence of residual urine was related to short recurrence‐free survival in male patients (P = 0.0012). When stratified by European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer risk groups, the presence of pyuria was related to short recurrence‐free survival, especially for intermediate‐risk patients without bacillus Calmette–Guérin treatment. Conclusions Post‐void residual urine and preoperative pyuria are two risks for recurrence‐free survival in non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer.