[Laparoscopic technique in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence].

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the usefulness of laparoscopy as a corrective technique for urinary stress incontinence in our experience.

METHODS

We review 72 cases of urinary stress incontinence who were treated by laparoscopic bladder neck suspension between April 1996 and December 2001.

RESULTS

Average operative time was less than 40 minutes and mean hospital stay was 1.6 days. The continence rate was 82% after a mean follow up of 32 months. From the 12 patients with incontinence recurrence, 7 had the urinary incontinence recurrence within 2 months from surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of laparoscopic correction in urinary stress incontinence seem to be satisfactory in the midterm, although it is necessary to have at least 5 years of follow up to be able to compare it with consolidated techniques considered the gold standard in the treatment of this disease.