Tension-free vaginal tape: do patients who fail to follow-up have the same results as those who do?

ABSTRACT

AIMS: To compare success and complication rates of the Tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) between patients with good versus poor follow-up. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective cohort study of 108 women undergoing a TVT procedure was conducted. Patients were seen postoperatively at 6 weeks, 3, 6, 12 months, and yearly thereafter. Patients were categorized as poor follow-up if this schedule was not adhered to. Those who were lost to follow-up at or after their 6-week visit were considered as having failed the procedure. RESULTS: Seventy-nine (73%) patients had good follow-up. Of the remaining 29 patients with poor follow-up, 12 (11%) could not be reached and 17 (16%) were contacted by phone. Reasons given for poor follow-up were busy or live far from hospital (11), health problems (4), and dissatisfied from surgery (2). Perioperative complication rates were similar between the two groups (P = 0.16). When patients with complete loss to follow-up were analyzed as failures, subjective and objective cure rates were significantly higher in patients with good as opposed to poor follow-up 92 and 95% versus 72 and 69%, respectively, (P = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with poor follow-up probably have lower cure rates after TVT. It is important to follow postoperative patients closely. When reporting success rates, one has to account for all cases to produce realistic results.