Suburethral sling inserted by the transobturator route in the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence: Preliminary results in 117 cases

Objective: Assesment of the transobturator out-in technique in the treatment of female urinary incontinence. Study design: Obtape, a non-woven, 5% polypropylene tape was inserted via the transobturator route in patients suffering from stress or mixed urinary incontinence. From I February 2003 to 30 April 2004 117 patients have been operated. Mean age was 55 years (37-82). Followup range from 7 to 22 months (median follow-up time 16.3 months). All patients were assessed before surgery by clinical gynaecological examination and an urodynamic, workup (postvoid residual urine, flowmetry, voiding urgency thresholds and urethral profile). Results: There were no major complications and no deaths. There were six (5.1%) minor intraoperative problems and three (2.5%) tape erosions. The subjective level of complete and partial patient satisfaction was 92.3% (108 patients) and 4.2% (5 patients), respectively. Four patients (3.4%) felt that the situation was unchanged. No patients felt that their situation had deteriorated (Table 4). There is a concern in operating the subgroup of patients suffering from low MUPC with dysuria as the cure rate is very low. Conclusions: Obtape (R) transobturator tape is a safe, simple and rapid procedure for treating female stress urinary incontinence, avoiding the major risks of the retropubic approach. Evaluation of the results after a longer follow-up period is necessary to confirm the superiority of this technique. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.