Question:medium
During TURP, the surgeon takes care to dissect above the verumontanum so as to prevent injury to which structure?
During TURP, the surgeon takes care to dissect above the verumontanum so as to prevent injury to which structure?
Show Hint
The continence-preserving sphincter sits just distal to the verumontanum, so resection stays proximal to it.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- External urethral sphincter
- Urethral crest
- Prostatic utricle
- Trigone of bladder
Show Solution
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
This is an anatomy and continence question disguised as a surgical-technique question. The verumontanum is the landmark that tells a urologist exactly where the safe limit of prostate resection lies. The structure most at risk during transurethral resection of the prostate is the external (rhabdo) urethral sphincter, which sits in the membranous urethra immediately distal to the verumontanum and is the muscle that keeps a man continent after surgery. Because that sphincter lies below the verumontanum, the surgeon deliberately keeps the resection on the bladder side, that is above and proximal to the verumontanum, so the cutting loop never reaches the sphincter. If resection were carried past the verumontanum toward the membranous urethra, the sphincter could be cut and the patient could be left with permanent urinary incontinence. The other listed structures, the urethral crest, prostatic utricle and trigone, are not what this precaution is designed to protect. Hence the answer is the external urethral sphincter.
\[\boxed{\text{External urethral sphincter}}\]
\[\boxed{\text{External urethral sphincter}}\]
Was this answer helpful?
0
