Transvaginal adjustable tape: an adjustable mesh for surgical treatment of female stress urinary incontinence.

After transvaginal adjustable tape, approximately 15% of patients still suffer incontinence, and voiding dysfunction is present in a relatively important number of patients. Transvaginal adjustable tape (TVA) permits postoperative readjustment of tension, suggesting that better results could be obtained. Sixty-four incontinent women received TVA. Patients were monitored 1, 6, and 12 months post-surgery and annually thereafter by medical history, cough stress test, flowmetry and post-void residual test (PVR), incontinence quality of life, International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form, and Patient Global Impressions of Improvement (PGI-I) questionnaires. After adjustment, all patients rendered continent, and none had PVR. On no occasion was vesical catheterization or uretholysis necessary. Mean follow-up was 40 +/- 12.9 months. Objective and subjective cure rate were 94% and 56%, respectively. Q (max) was 22.3 +/- 9.9 ml/s. The PGI-I questionnaire showed 94% of patients to be better or very much better than before. Our data suggest that with TVA tape, better results can be obtained, furthermore, without increasing surgical complications.

Romero Maroto J, Ortiz Gorraiz M, Prieto Chaparro L, Pacheco Bru JJ, Miralles Bueno JJ, Lopez Lopez C.

Servicio de Urología, Hospital Universitario de San Juan, Carretera Alicante Valencia s/n. San Juan de Alicante, 03550, Alicante, Spain, jesus.romero@umh.es.