Treatment Outcomes of Tension-free Vaginal Tape Insertion

Objective: To assess whether there is a difference in treatment outcomes for patients with or without intrinsic sphincter deficiency after tension-free vaginal tape insertion for stress urinary incontinence in a Chinese population. Methods: This retrospective study of Chinese women undergoing tension-free vaginal tape insertion for confirmed urodynamic stress urinary incontinence was carried out in a local regional hospital from 2000 to 2008. Valsalva leak point pressure and / or maximum urethral closure pressure were checked and intrinsic sphincter deficiency was defined as Valsalva leak point pressure of <60 cm H2O or maximum urethral closure pressure of <20 cm H2O. Patient satisfaction and subjective and objective cure rates were compared between the groups with and without intrinsic sphincter deficiency. A p value of <0.05 was regarded as statistically significant. Results: Of 132 patients enrolled in the study, 17 had intrinsic sphincter deficiency. At 1-year follow-up, patient satisfaction rates were high in both groups. There was a significant difference between the groups for subjective cure rates (76.5% in the intrinsic sphincter deficiency group vs. 87.8% in the group without intrinsic sphincter deficiency) but not for objective cure rates. There were no significant differences between the groups for patient satisfaction and subjective and objective cure rates at the 3-year follow-up. Conclusion: Tension-free vaginal tape insertion is an effective and highly satisfactory procedure for treatment of stress urinary incontinence in Chinese women, whether or not they have intrinsic sphincter deficiency. Hong Kong J Gynaecol Obstet Midwifery 2013; 13(1):91-5