The 7-year outcome of the tension-free vaginal tape procedure for treating female stress urinary incontinence.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the long-term results and predictive risk factors for efficacy after the tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) procedure for treating female stress urinary incontinence (SUI).


METHODS
Inall, 306 women (mean age 50.7 years, sd 8.7) who had a TVT procedure for SUI were selected and followed >or=7 years (mean 92.3 months, range 84-110) after surgery. We analysed the long-term results, the variables predictive of cure rates, and patient satisfaction.


RESULTS
The overall 7-year cure rate was 84.6%, with a satisfaction rate of 69.3%. The cure rates were lower in patients with high-grade SUI (50% in grade III, 82.8% in grade II and 90.7% in grade I; P < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, there were no independent risk factors related to cure rate, and urgency was the only factor independently associated with patient satisfaction (P = 0.008; odds ratio 2.47). Seventy-one patients (23.2%) had complications at the 1-month follow-up after surgery, but only eight (2.6%) had complications at the 7-year follow-up, including mesh exposure in six and de novo urgency in two.


CONCLUSIONS
The absence of long-term adverse events associated with the TVT procedure, and high subjective and objective 7-year success rates with no independent predictive factors affecting the long-term cure rate, make the TVT procedure a recommendable surgical treatment for female SUI.
Song
Phil Hyun
PH
Department of Urology, Kim Young Don Urology Clinic, Daegu, Korea.
Kim
Young Don
YD
Kim
Hyun Tae
HT
Lim
Hwa Su
HS
Hyun
Chang Ho
CH
Seo
Joon Hyung
JH
Yoo
Eun Sang
ES
Park
Choal Hee
CH
Jung
Hee Chang
HC
Gomelsky
Alexander
A