Short-term clinical and quality-of-life outcomes in women treated by the TVT-Secur procedure.

BACKGROUND: The TVT-Secur (Ethicon, Somerville, NJ, USA) is a minimally invasive suburethral synthetic sling used in the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence. It claims to cause less postoperative pain and to enable performing in an office setting. However, this may be at the expense of a significant learning curve and a higher early failure rate. AIMS: To assess objectively the success rate of the TVT-Secur procedure in the 'U' configuration at six months. Secondary outcomes focussed on subjective success rates, complications, patient satisfaction and quality-of-life (QOL). METHODS: A prospective observational study was undertaken at two tertiary referral urogynaecology centres. A cohort of 42 consecutive patients with urodynamic stress incontinence who underwent the TVT-Secur procedure in the 'U' configuration between November 2006 and August 2007 were followed up for six months. Three standardised QOL questionnaires were completed preoperatively and at six months. A urogenital history, visual analogue score (VAS) for patient satisfaction, uroflow and urinary stress test were performed at six months. RESULTS: Recruitment was ceased prematurely because of a high number of early failures. Objective and subjective success rates at six months were 58.3% and 51.3% respectively. Complications included urinary tract infections, voiding difficulty, groin discomfort, haematoma, vaginal pain, tape erosion and intra-operative dislodgement of tape. Prevalence of de novo urge incontinence was 10.3%. Only symptom-specific QOL scores improved and only 48.6% indicated a high level satisfaction (VAS > or = 80%) with TVT-Secur. CONCLUSION: On the basis of this limited study, we are hesitant to recommend the 'U' configuration of the TVT-Secur over its more established counterparts, the TVT and TVT-O.

Laparoscopic Burch colposuspension after failed sub-urethral tape procedures: a retrospective audit.

Our objective was to evaluate the outcome of laparoscopic Burch colposuspension in women with recurrent stress urinary incontinence after failed primary sub-urethral tape procedures. A total of 16 patients were identified, and their data from symptom-specific questionnaires, urodynamic studies and urogynaecological assessment were collected. At a median follow-up of 24.5 months, objective and subjective cure rates were 54.5% and 92.9%, respectively. Average satisfaction score regarding outcome after surgery was 9.3 on a rating scale from 0 to 10. All but one patient had symptoms of urge incontinence pre-operatively with 64.3% experiencing cure or improvement post-operatively. Voiding difficulties were observed in one patient, and post-operative urodynamics revealed a significant decrease in urinary flow rate (p < 0.05) but with no difference in urinary residuals or maximum urethral closure pressure. Severe peri-urethral fibrosis was identified in 62.5% of the patients. Laparoscopic Burch colposuspension is an effective and safe surgical option.