New transobturator sling for less invasive treatment of urinary incontinence in women--SERASIS TO.

Urinary incontinence, defined as a leakage of small amounts of urine during physical movement (coughing, sneezing, exercising) is rather a common problem. The treatment of this disorder is even more non-uniformed: there have been roundly 100 operations proposed for it. The Burch procedure has become probably the most popular. As traumatic and invasive as it is, this procedure is performed under general anaesthetic, the abdomen is opened, the bladder neck suspended and fixed with clips or sutures to the back of the pubic bone. Some of the advantages with this procedure include safety and reproducibility, direct access to internal organs and possibility of performing this procedure in laparoscopic settings. A recent study by the same group, employing 150 patients treated with this type of procedure showed that the SERASIS TO transobturator sling seems to be very effective, less traumatic, less dangerous and does not require cystoscopy or urethral deviation devices. Although long-term follow-up data are not available for the transobturator approach, short-term results are encouraging. Large comparative studies with other anti-incontinent procedures are needed.