The Transobturator Tape Technique for the Treatment of Stress Urinary Incontinence in Women – Results of a Study of 176 Patients
Abstract
Stress urinary incontinence is defined as an involuntary loss of urine. This symptom is relatively frequent among women and has a negative impact on their quality of life. More than 200 types of anti-incontinence surgical procedures are currently described. Since its introduction în 2001, the transobturator tape (TOT) technique has been considered effective for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence in women [1].
Aims. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and the complications of the TOT surgical technique in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence în women.
Methods. This study was a single-center retrospective study, including all patients operated for stress urinary incontinence during a 5 year period in the service of obstetrics-gynecology în Mulhouse (France), using the TOT technique. Urinary incontinence was classified into 4 stages, and all patients underwent a urological evaluation preoperatively. The mean follow-up of patients was approximately 7 months postoperatively.
Results. The study included 176 patients with a mean age of 57 years, age range between 32 and 87 years. The majority of the patients were at stages 2 (53.4%); 81.3% of the patients had stress urinary incontinence, 17% mixed urinary incontinence, and 1.7% urge urinary incontinence. Of all patients, 86.36% were considered healed and 5.11% improved during the postoperative period. In 18.75% of the patients late postoperative complications were noted, most of them consisting of urinary retentions and urinary infections.
Conclusions. The TOT surgical technique is an effective method for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence în women, with good and very good results in more than 90% of the cases. The presence of complications did not change late results regarding urinary continence. Age did not seem to influence the results, except for patients aged over 70, in whom effectiveness seemed to be lower. The presence of a failure of the urethral sphincter slightly altered the effectiveness of the results, which remained satisfactory. The advanced stages of urinary incontinence diminished postoperative results.