Better Short-Term Outcomes With The 'U-Method' Compared to the 'Hammock' Technique for the Implantation of the TVT-SECUR Under Local Anesthesia

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a common problem, affecting women of all ages. Treatment options for SUI include physiotherapy and surgical interventions, such as retropubic operations and midurethral slings. Conventional retropubic and transobturator tapes are the preferred choice for most surgeons, because of their wide applicability, technical simplicity and clinical efficacy. The retropubic tape has been effective for many years, but exposes the patients to serious complications, such as bladder perforations, principally because of the use of the retropubic space for the fixation of the tape. In an attempt to avoid the retropubic space, the second generation of slings, the transobturator tape, was introduced. However, prolonged postoperative groin pain as well as vascular injuries have been reported.

The last generation of midurethral slings, the tension-free vaginal tape system (TVT-SecurTM, Gynecare, Ethicon, Somerville, NJ, USA), introduced in 2005, attempts to lower the number of complications, by involving only a small vaginal incision and no exit wound. This 8-cm long laser-cut polypropylene mesh can potentially be implanted under local anesthesia, because of a less-invasive technique using minimal vaginal dissection as well as avoidance of retropubic space and obturator fossa. In the case of conventional midurethral slings, even if their implantation under local anesthesia has been studied and proven relatively safe, this practice has not gained popularity.

This was a prospective, clinical study with primary objective to observe the satisfaction of local anesthesia during the implantation of the TVT-SECUR, with the use of questionnaires completed by the patients. The secondary objective was to observe the short-term efficacy and safety of the sling. The final objective was to compare the two techniques of implantation: the 'U-Method' and the 'Hammock' technique.