Tension free vaginal tape in the management of genuine stress incontinence in women - the Indian experience

Objectives: To study retrospectively the results of the Tension Free Vaginal Tape (TVT), a new ambulatory sur-gical procedure for the treatment of stress urinary incon-tinence (SUI) among Indian women. Methods: TVT implies the implantation of a prolene tape around the mid-uretha via a minimal vaginal incision. TVT was done on 54 patients diagnosed to have Genuine Stress Incontinence (GSI). The procedure was done either under regional anaesthesia (RA) or under local anaesthesia (LA) with IV analgesics. Results: Thirty-eight patients underwent only the TVT procedure and in 16 patients concomitant procedures were done along with the TVT The TVT was done as the pri-mary procedure for GSI in 46 patients. Eight patients had prior surgery for stress incontinence. All patients were followed up from 6 months to 2 years. Forty-eight (88%) patients reported complete cure. There was significant improvement of symptoms in 4(7.4%) patients and in 2(3.7%) the surgery failed. Conclusions: These results prove that the TVT proce-dure is a minimally invasive, safe and effective method for the treatment of SUI in women

Midurethral bulbocavernous muscle sling for genuine stress incontinence - an alternative to synthetic slings?

Objectives: To assess the efficacy of midurethral bulbo-cavernous muscle sling (BCMS) in the treatment of genu-ine stress incontinence in women. Methods: A prospective study comprising 25 women was carried out at the Govt. Kasturba Gandhi Hospital, Chennai. The women whose age was in the range of 30-65 years had GSI as proved by urodynamic evaluation. The bulbocavernous muscle sling implies the approximation of both the bulbocavernous muscles around the midurethra with prolene sutures. The procedure is done under regional anaesthesia. Results: These patients were followed up for 2 years. Eighteen (72%) women reported complete cure, 4 (16%) were significantly improved and in 3 the surgery failed. Conclusions: The bulbocavernous muscle sling is a promising new procedure for genuine stress incontinence. There is no need for intraoperative cystoscopy and the chances of bladder injury are nonexistent. Larger sample with long term follow up and randomized controlled trials comparing it with the other surgical techniques may prove its true efficacy

Anterior bladder flap neo urethra as treatment for stress urinary incontinence due to developmental urogenital anomaly

Congenital anomalies that involve the distal segment of urogenital sinus (giving rise to female urethra and vagina) may lead to abnormal urethral development ranging from absent to markedly deficient urethra. The abnormal division may also cause a short and patulous urethra. Sphincteric defects are likely to be associated and when combined with the short urethral length is a cause for severe urinary incontinence. Urinary incontinence due to a congenital cause requiring repeated urethral reconstruction to relieve symptoms is presented. A 15 year old girl was referred for bothersome urinary incontinence due to a short, wide, patulous urethra with defective sphincteric mechanism as part of urogenital sinus developmental anomaly. She was initially managed by reconstruction of bladder neck and proximal urethra with sphincter augmentation using autologous pubovaginal sling. Persistent urinary incontinence demanded a second urethral reconstruction using tubularised anterior bladder flap (modified Tanagho). Surgical reconstruction of the urethra achieved socially acceptable continence