Outcomes following treatment for pelvic floor mesh complications.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Our aim was to determine symptoms and degree of improvement in a cohort of women who presented following treatment for vaginal mesh complications. METHODS: This study was a follow-up to a multicenter, retrospective study of women who presented to four tertiary referral centers for management of vaginal-mesh-related complications. Study participants completed a one-time follow-up survey regarding any additional treatment, current symptoms, and degree of improvement from initial presentation. RESULTS: Two hundred and sixty women received surveys; we had a response rate of 41.1 % (107/260). Complete data were available for 101 respondents. Survey respondents were more likely to be postmenopausal (p = 0.006), but otherwise did not differ from nonrespondents. Fifty-one percent (52/101) of women underwent surgery as the primary intervention for their mesh complication; 8 % (4/52) underwent a second surgery; 34 % (17/52) required a second nonsurgical intervention. Three patients required three or more surgeries. Of the 30 % (30/101) of respondents who reported pelvic pain prior to intervention, 63 % (19/30) reported improvement, 30 % (9/30) were worse, and 7 % (2/30) reported no change. Of the 33 % (33/101) who reported voiding dysfunction prior to intervention, 61 % (20/33) reported being at least somewhat bothered by these symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: About 50 % of women with mesh complications in this study underwent surgical management as treatment, and <10 % required a second surgery. Most patients with pain preintervention reported significant improvement after treatment; however, almost a third reported worsening pain or no change after surgical management. Less than half of patients with voiding dysfunction improved after intervention.

Effect of preoperative voiding mechanism on success rate of autologous rectus fascia suburethral sling procedure.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of the rectus fascia suburethral sling procedure and to determine whether preoperative voiding caused by the Valsalva maneuver is a risk factor for short-term objective failure. METHODS: This study is a retrospective chart review of 50 patients who underwent the suburethral sling procedure with rectus fascia at our institution between March 1994 and August 1996. All patients had genuine stress incontinence with intrinsic sphincteric deficiency or urethral hypomobility. Preoperative multichannel urodynamics were measured in all patients, and postoperative urodynamic testing was done at 3 months in 48 patients. RESULTS: Ninety-four percent of patients were cured subjectively of stress urinary incontinence at 3 months. Objective cure was found by urodynamic measurements in 73% of the 48 patients who underwent postoperative testing. There was an increased risk of objective failure in patients whose voiding preoperatively was caused by the Valsalva maneuver. Objective failure was found at 3 months in 54% of the 13 patients in the Valsalva group, compared with 17% of the 35 in the non-Valsalva group (P=.011). Patients in the Valsalva group also tended to have longer durations of postoperative catheterization than did patients in the non-Valsalva group (P=.049). CONCLUSION: The rectus fascia suburethral sling procedure appears to be an effective operation for the treatment of genuine stress incontinence in carefully selected patients. However, patients who are identified preoperatively as voiding because of the Valsalva maneuver have a higher failure rate for this procedure.

The use of mesh in gynecologic surgery.

The aim of this review was to compare properties of the most commonly used synthetic meshes and describe their use in gynecologic procedures. An Ovid search of the English literature from 1966 to the present was carried out, together with a hand search of Index Medicus from 1950 to 1965. Articles involving the use of mesh in surgical procedures or comparative studies of the different mechanical properties of mesh are included. Overviews from urogynecologic texts and surgical texts are also included. All studies in this review consisted of retrospective case series (21 suburethral sling articles, 15 sacrocolpopexy articles, and five pelvic sling articles). No randomized prospective trials were available. Outcome variables, including cure rates and mesh-related complications, are reviewed and compared. Conclusions show that long-term success of the suburethral sling with synthetic mesh ranges from 61% to 100%, and the success rate of the abdominal sacrocolpopexies using mesh ranges from 68% to 100%. Mesh-related complications rates are frequent, with up to a 35% removal rate and 10% sinus tract formation for suburethral slings and 9% erosion rate for sacrocolpopexy. The ideal synthetic mesh material for pelvic surgery, one that induces minimal foreign-body reaction with minimal risk of infection, rejection and erosion, has yet to be developed.