Technique which eliminates need for assistant during prostatic needle biopsies.

We describe a simple technique which obviates the need for an assistant during transperineal and transrectal needle biopsies of the prostate gland. The role of the assistant, who must elevate and retract the scrotum, is eliminated by using a large-gauge urethral sound, such as the Van Buren sound. The patient is placed in the relaxed lithotomy position, and the scrotum is elevated cephalad with placement of the sound transversely under the scrotum in line with the groin creases, effectively bridging the scrotum and elevating it out of the surgical field (Fig. 1). The perineum or rectum is then prepped and draped, and the biopsy is done in routine fashion. The Van Buren sound set is readily available in our cystoscopy suite and has proved to be a useful tool for the urologist in addition to its standard role as a sound.