Symptom-specific quality of life up in repeat sling procedure

(HealthDay)—Women undergoing repeat midurethral sling procedure have a significantly increased risk of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) failure, but experience greater improvement in urinary symptom-specific quality of life (QOL) than women undergoing a primary procedure, according to research published in the February issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Alison M. Pardon, M.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues reviewed the charts of 1,316 women who underwent a primary or repeat midurethral sling procedure for urinary incontinence to assess SUI and other lower urinary tract symptom outcomes.

After a median follow-up time of 36.4 months, the researchers found that the cure rate was 71 percent for women undergoing a primary procedure and 54 percent for those undergoing a repeat procedure. Compared with women undergoing a primary sling procedure, women who underwent a repeat sling procedure experienced significantly greater improvement in symptom-specific QOL. In multivariate analyses, women undergoing a repeat procedure had a significantly increased risk of SUI failure (odds ratio, 1.7).

"These data will be useful to help counsel patients that they should see improvement, but that additional therapies such as credible adjunctive behavioral therapies, medication therapy, or both may be necessary to optimize lower urinary tract symptom outcomes," the authors write.
One of the authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.