title: Short-term assessment of a tension-free vaginal tape for treating female stress urinary incontinence.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the short-term surgical complications and results of a tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) system (TVT-Secur, Gynecare, Ethicon, Somerville, NJ, USA) in the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence (SUI).
  
  
  METHODS
  TVT-Secur was applied to 107 women with SUI through a vaginal incision and left abutting the urethra. Postoperative pain, complications, de novo lower urinary tract symptoms, incontinence cure rate and the King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ) score were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The operative duration was 12 min; the mean pain score was 2.3 and only one patient had transient voiding difficulties. After a mean follow-up of 15 months, 71% of the patients were dry and 14% improved. The KHQ scores decreased significantly for most subscores. Urgency appeared de novo in six patients (5.6%), and vaginal erosion required one TVT-Secur explantation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that TVT-Secur is a simple and safe treatment for female SUI, but before recommending this sling as a first choice for treating SUI, TVT-Secur must pass the test of time and comparative studies with conventional slings.
authors.affiliation: Hospital de São João, Serviço de Urologia, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guimarães
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dinis
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cruz
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D053825:Suburethral Slings / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000592:standards*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000601:surgery*