Bladder perforation of the tension-free vaginal tape detected with a flexible cystoscope.

A 67-year-old woman who presented with stress urinary incontinence underwent a tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) operation. Postoperatively, she complained of urgency, gross hematuria and dysuria, which persisted for one week. Cystoscopy with a flexible cytoscope revealed penetration of the bladder wall by the tape, which had been missed during the TVT procedure by rigid cystoscopy. After the penetrating portion of the tape was excised, her symptoms were resolved and continence was preserved. This case suggests that employment of a flexible cytoscope is useful to detect the placement of tape in the bladder wall, which may be missed with a rigid cytoscope.