Cystolithiasis in women as a distant complication after minimal invasive treatment of stress urinary incontinence

INTRODUCTION Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a condition of social dimension which generally pertains to women of various age. The only effective treatments of SUI are surgical procedures. The use of tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) ensures low invasiveness but also carries the risk of complications. One of the complications may be migration of the tape into the urinary bladder creating conditions for urinary stones. There is a number of treatment methods for cystolithiasis, among them the optical lithotripter, ultrasound and pneumatic probes, and recently, the holmium laser. MATERIAL AND METHODS From January 2009 to February 2010, six women suffering from bladder stones were treated at our department. All patients had previously undergone SUI procedures and over time, thread or tape had penetrated into the urinary bladder. The stone diameters were in the range of 1.6 cm-3.5 cm. Lithotripsy was performed with the use of an 80 W holmium YAG laser as an endoscopic procedure: beam frequency length of 2100 nm and applied energy was in the range of 0.2-3.5 J. RESULTS The urinary bladder stones were disintegrated and suctioned out. During the same procedure, the threads or tape from the SUI procedure were excised from the bladder. All patients were discharged from the hospital in good general condition after two days. CONCLUSIONS The holmium laser is an effective treatment for patients with bladder stone complications after SUI procedures when threads or tape have migrated and penetrated the bladder wall. The procedure is straightforward and safe for patients.