Clinical observation of adjusting middle urethral sling tension through anatomic position during RMUS / 中华泌尿外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the safety and effectiveness of tension adjustment technique using anatomical landmarks during retropubic midurethral synthetic sling.Methods:The data of 36 consecutive female patients with urinary incontinence, who had underwent retropubic midurethral synthetic sling procedure from January to August 2019 were analyzed retrospectively. The mean age was (60.83±7.93) years old and the body mass index was (24.43±2.44) kg/m 2. Among the recruited subjects, 36 had positive stress test and Marshall-Marchetti test. 20 (55.6%) were pure stress urinary incontinence, and 16 (44.4%) were mixed urinary incontinence. The severity of incontinence was classified into mild (5 cases, 13.9%), moderate (14 cases, 38.9%), severe (13 cases, 36.1%) and very severe (4 cases, 11.1%) using one-hour pad tests. Urodynamics were performed in 17 cases, with 5 (29.4%) presented detrusor overactivity, 3 (17.7%) possessed intrinsic sphincter deficiency. For each case, the tension of the sling was adjusted based on the anatomical landmarks, i. e. using an angled clamp attached closely to the pubic symphysis ventrally and the tip parallel to the edge of hymen dorsally. All patients were catheter-free right after the procedure. The subjective and objective effectiveness, and safety (the rate of urinary retension after surgery and postvoid residual volume 3 months later) were evaluated.The subjective cure rate was was defined as complete leakage free or very mild leakage during excessive bladder filling and fierce cough. The subjective effectiveness was defined as over 50% improvement of the leakage symptom. The objective cure rate was defined as a negative stress test. Results:For all 36 patients, the median hospital stays was 8 (5-95)h. No bladder perforation or transfusion cases. All patients were catheter-free right after the procedure, with no incidence of urinary retention. 27 patients completed a 3-month follow-up, with 22 had post-void residual data, 23 had subjective effectiveness data and 23 had objective effectiveness data. The median post-void residual was 7.5 (5-64) ml, subjective cure rate was 91.3% (21/23), and objective cure rate was 95.7% (22/23). 8.7% (2/23) reported difficult urination alleviated without the necessity of clinical interference. No urethra erosion or vagina extrusion was found. At 2-year follow-up, 34 patients completed assessment by phone. The subjective cure rate was 91.2% (31/34), with only 2.9% (1/34) reported difficult urination. Besides, at 3-month follow-up, there was no difference regarding the subjective cure rate [100.0%(12/12) vs. 81.8%(9/11)]or objective cure rate [91.7%(11/12) vs. 100.0%(11/11)] between patients with stress and mixed incontinence. No difference was noted among patients with mild, moderate, severe and very severe leakage[75.0% (3/4) vs. 100.0%(6/6) vs. 90.0%(9/10) vs. 100.0%(3/3)]. Of the 12 cases with urodynamic records, the presence of detrusor overactivity [66.7%(2/3) vs. 88.9%(8/9)] or intrinsic sphincter deficiency [0(0/1) vs. 90.9%(10/11)] did not significantly affected the cure rate of the procedure. At 2-year follow-up, there was no difference regarding the subjective cure rate between patients with stress and mixed incontinence [94.7%(18/19) vs. 86.7%(13/15)]. No difference was also noted among patients with mild, moderate, severe and very severe leakage[80.0%(4/5) vs. 100.0%(13/13) vs. 83.3%(10/12) vs. 100.0%(4/4)]. Of the 16 cases with urodynamic records, the presence of detrusor overactivity [60.0%(3/5) vs. 90.9%(10/11)]or intrinsic sphincter deficiency [66.7%(2/3) vs. 84.6%(11/13)]did not significantly affected the cure rate of the procedure.Conclusions:Tension adjustment using anatomic landmarks during sling procedure is safe and feasible for urinary incontinence, with minimum complications and residual volume, and high subjective/objective cure rate.