Long-term functional results after unilateral mid-urethral sling transection for voiding dysfunction.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the long-term outcomes of unilateral mid-urethral sling transection to treat voiding dysfunction after synthetic mid-urethral sling placement for stress urinary incontinence.

STUDY DESIGN: Twenty-three patients who underwent an unilateral sling transection were analyzed retrospectively. Patient records were analyzed for subjective outcome, and pre- and postoperative flow patterns were used as objective outcome parameters.

RESULTS: At the first postoperative follow-up, 77.3% of the patients remained dry. After a mean follow-up of 42 months, 73.9% of patients were continent. The flow pattern after lateral sling transection was significantly better than pre-operatively, with higher maximum flow rate (24.2ml/s, p=0.001), higher mean flow rate (10.4ml/s, p=0.001), higher voided volume (308.5ml, p=0.002) and lower residual volume (28.7ml, p=0.003). At final postoperative follow-up, eight patients (34.8%) reported urgency and six patients (26.1%) were incontinent; four of these patients (17.4%) mainly had urge incontinence.

CONCLUSIONS: Unilateral mid-urethral sling transection is a safe, effective technique to treat voiding symptoms with good preservation of continence. The technique repairs the obstructive flow effectively. Urgency and urge incontinence after mid-urethral sling placement are difficult to treat with transection alone.