Effect of a New Risk Calculator on Patient Satisfaction With the Decision for Concomitant Midurethral Sling During Prolapse Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether use of a new personalized risk calculator increases patient satisfaction with the decision whether or not to have a prophylactic midurethral sling (MUS) during pelvic organ prolapse (POP) surgery. METHODS: We performed a randomized controlled trial involving English-speaking women without symptoms of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) with ≥ stage 2 POP who planned to undergo POP surgery with 1 of 4 fellowship-trained urogynecologists at a single academic center. Women with a history of prior POP or incontinence surgery, or who were pregnant, or unable to complete study forms were excluded. Participants were randomly assigned to standard preoperative counseling or preoperative counseling with the use of a validated, online risk calculator for de novo SUI after POP surgery. The primary outcome was patient satisfaction with the decision for prophylactic MUS placement during POP surgery at 3 months postoperative assessed using the Satisfaction with Decision Scale for Pelvic Floor Disorders. RESULTS: Sixty-three women were approached for participation. Forty-two agreed to participate, 41 underwent randomization, and 33 had POP surgery and completed 3-month follow-up. Of these 33, 17 were randomized to the risk calculator and 16 to standard counseling. The mean age was 61.2 ± 9.1 years, and 41% (14/33) had a prophylactic MUS. At 3 months postoperative, there was no difference in Satisfaction with Decision Scale for Pelvic Floor Disorders scores between groups (4.67 ± 0.46 [intervention] vs 4.78 ± 0.34 [control]; P = 0.61). CONCLUSIONS: Use of the de novo SUI risk calculator did not increase patient satisfaction with the decision regarding MUS placement during POP surgery.

Foley catheter guide use during midurethral slings: does it make a difference?

INTRODUCTION: Our objective was to evaluate whether foley catheter guide use decreased the risk of cystotomy and urethrotomy during retropubic midurethral sling placement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included all women undergoing retropubic synthetic midurethral sling placement at a single academic institution between January 2011 and September 2012. Patients were divided into groups based on whether or not the foley catheter guide was used during surgery. The primary outcome was the incidence of cystotomy. RESULTS: A total of 310 patients underwent retropubic midurethral sling placement. The foley catheter guide was used in 76/310 cases (24.5%). The mean age was 57 ± 11 and mean body mass index was 28 ± 7. More patients in the no-guide group had preoperative urgency (70% versus 58%, p = 0.049), anterior prolapse (95% versus 78%, p < 0.0001), and concomitant prolapse surgery (65% versus 51%, p = 0.03). There was no difference in preoperative urgency urinary incontinence, medical comorbidities, previous surgical history, intraoperative time, blood loss, or postoperative voiding dysfunction rates between groups. Fourteen of the 310 patients (4.5%) had cystotomies: 1/76 (1.3%) in the foley catheter guide group and 13/234 (5.6%) in the no-guide group (p = 0.12). No patients had urethrotomies. On multiple logistic regression, there was no difference in the odds of cystotomy between groups after adjusting for previous prolapse and anti-incontinence surgery, concomitant prolapse repair, level of first assistant, and retropubic local anesthesia use (AOR = 0.2 [95% CI 0.02-1.7]). CONCLUSIONS: Foley catheter guide use did not decrease the risk of intraoperative lower urinary tract injury during retropubic midurethral sling placement. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm this finding.