title: Transobturator vaginal tape for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence in elderly women without concomitant pelvic organ prolapse: is it effective and safe?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the transobturator approach (TVT-O) for the surgical management of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in older women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between 2007 and 2010, all consecutive women with SUI undergoing an isolated TVT-O procedure were prospectively enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into two groups by age: older women (≥ 70 years old) were included in group 1, while younger women (< 70 years old) in group 2. Intra- and post-operative outcomes were compared between the groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the study period 181 women met the inclusion criteria and were included for final analysis. Among these women, 60 (33.1%) and 121 (66.9%) were included in groups 1 and 2 respectively. After a median follow-up of 26 (IQR 15-41) months for the younger and 25 (IQR 18-40) months for older patients (p>0.99), no differences were observed between the two groups in terms of cure rate (92.5% vs. 88.3%; p=0.40). No differences were observed in terms of voiding dysfunction, vaginal erosion and persistent groin pain, or in terms of onset of de novo overactive bladder (9.0% vs. 13.3%; p=0.44).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TVT-O appears to be a safe and effective procedure for the management of stress urinary incontinence also in elderly population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy. mauserati@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Serati
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Braga
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cattoni
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Siesto
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cromi
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ghezzi
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salvatore
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D013509:Gynecologic Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D053825:Suburethral Slings; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000601:surgery*