Complications of Stamey needle suspension for female stress urinary incontinence.
BACKGROUND
The Stamey bladder neck suspension for stress urinary incontinence in females is thought to be an excellent procedure. However, recent studies revealed that complications of this procedure have not been negligible. In this retrospective study, complications of the Stamey needle bladder neck suspension were examined.


METHODS
The Stamey procedure was performed either alone or in combination with anterior colporrhaphy for 86 female patients with stress urinary incontinence between 1989 and 1999. The mean follow-up period was 37.6 months and the mean age was 59.1 years. We studied the complications postoperatively pointed out by patients' complaint and image examination.


RESULTS
The overall incidence of complications was 37.2%. Voiding difficulties and lower abdominal pain were present in 15 cases, respectively. We experienced 2 unusual cases in whom suspensory stitches had to be removed due to abdominal pain.


CONCLUSIONS
Although the Stamey bladder neck suspension is thought to be an excellent procedure for stress urinary incontinence, surgeons should beware of possible complications and be alert of the symptoms, such as abdominal pain and bladder irritation.
Takahashi
Satoshi
S
Department of Urology, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan. stakahas@sapmed.ac.jp
Miyao
Noriomi
N
Hisataki
Toshihiro
T
Matsukawa
Masanori
M
Takagi
Seiji
S
Sasao
Takumi
T
Adachi
Hideki
H
Miyake
Masafumi
M
Tsukamoto
Taiji
T
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000601:surgery*; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000601:surgery*; D013520:Urologic Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects*