title: Comparison of quality-of-life changes in patients with stress urinary incontinence after midurethral sling placement.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare changes in quality of life for women undergoing either suprapubic or transvaginal midurethral sling placement for stress urinary incontinence (SUI).
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective cohort study was conducted involving 113 patients who underwent transvaginal or suprapubic midurethral sling placement for SUI over 2 years at a US institution. All patients completed a short form of the urogenital distress inventory (UDI-6) questionnaire preoperatively and postoperatively. Preoperative and postoperative UDI-6 scores were compared between the 2 groups. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test and the Fisher exact test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A midurethral sling was placed using the suprapubic approach in 70 patients, and 43 patients underwent the procedure using the transvaginal approach. Preoperatively, there was no statistical difference between mean UDI-6 scores for the suprapubic versus the transvaginal group (48.5 versus 51.0 P = 0.9). Postoperatively, patients who underwent a suprapubic procedure had significantly lower mean UDI-6 scores than those who underwent a transvaginal procedure (10.6 versus 17.0; P < 0.005).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Suprapubic midurethral sling placement was associated with a significantly greater quality of life postoperatively compared with the transvaginal procedure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Urogynecology and Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery, North Shore University Hospital/Long Island Jewish, New York, USA. dshalom@nshs.edu
authors.forename: Dara F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Shalom
authors.forename: Allan S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Klapper
authors.forename: Stephanie N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Harvey A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Winkler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D013509:Gynecologic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D053825:Suburethral Slings; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000601:surgery*