A 10- to 20-year follow-up after tension-free vaginal tape for stress urinary incontinence.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Midurethral slings (MUS) have become the gold standard in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Some information is already available on the outcome of tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) after 10 years or more. Our objective was to assess the current outcome (efficacy, adverse events) of women who had been successfully operated upon for SUI by means of a TVT procedure 10 to 20 years ago.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective cohort study including 291 women (mean age 69.4 years) who underwent a successful TVT procedure (retropubic bottom-to-top route) in a teaching hospital between January 2001 and December 2010. The main outcome measure was the incidence of SUI at 10-20 years' follow-up. Others were incidence of re-operation, tape exposure and de novo overactive bladder symptoms. We carried out a univariate logistic regression analysis to examine the relationship between outcomes and a set of clinical variables.

RESULTS

After a median of 15 years, TVT remains highly effective: 272 women (94%) experienced either no leakage under any circumstance (214=74%) or leakage less than weekly (58=20%). Mesh exposure (8=2.7%; 1.8 events per 1,000 patient-years) and repeat surgery for SUI (11=3.8%; 2.5 events per 1,000 patient-years) were low. Three women (1%) needed to perform intermittent self-catheterisation. Bothersome overactive bladder symptoms (45=15%) were common and associated with polypharmacy, cardiovascular medication and obesity.

CONCLUSION

The efficacy of TVT is demonstrated up to 20 years. The presence of bothersome OAB symptoms in the population may be an indicator of multimorbidity.