Long-Term Effectiveness and Complications of Mid-Urethral Slings: Clinical Case

Abstract

Approximately 50% of all women suffer from urinary incontinence at least once in their lifetime. A majority of these women experience a type of urinary incontinence that is called stress urinary incontinence. Women of all ages are susceptible to this disease, however, it mostly affects older and overweight women. Even though this is not a life-threatening disease, it is important to find the most effective treatment methods to lessen the so­cial and psychological damage that is associated with this disease. Stress urinary incontinence is treated con­servatively, however, if the treatment is not successful, surgical options can be utilized. In the last few decades, surgical methods for stress urinary incontinence have changed dramatically. Burch colposuspension has long been a gold standard for surgical stress urinary inconti­nence treatment, however, its popularity has started to drop. Instead, mid-urethral slings have become the more mainstream option. Mid-urethral sling operations are not only less invasive and cause fewer complications, but are also more effective at treating stress urinary incontinence. Aim: To analyse the newest publications that review the long-term effectiveness and complications of mid-urethral slings and to also present a clinical case. Methods: A scientific literature review was conducted utilizing the following databases: Pubmed, ScienceDi­rect, UpToDate. Keywords for the search were urinary stress incontinence, Burch colposuspension, mid-urethral sling, tension-free vaginal tape. The most relevant scien­tific articles and scientific publications on the topic were selected. This article presents a generalized analysis of the scientific literature on the topic “Long-term effecti­veness and complications of mid-urethral slings: clinical case and literature review”. Results: Mid-urethral sling operations are an effective tre­atment option for stress urinary incontinence in women. Mid-urethral sling operations have lower complication risk than popular alternatives. According to the literature analysed in the study, there is no significant difference in effectiveness and complication rates between retropubic and transobturator mid-urethral slings. However, these are both quite not old treatments methods and so far there is not enough data to make a definitive conclusion.