Can reducing the number of stitches compromise the outcome of laparoscopic Burch surgery in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence? Systematic review and meta-analysis

The retropubic colposuspension in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence has been rescued with the laparoscopic route. Some authors have reduced the number of stitches, from two to one, due to the difficulty of suturing by this route. To what extent can this modification compromise outcome? To answer this question, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis on the MEDLINE/PubMed and LILACS/SciELO databases between 1990 and 2015. We included randomized clinical trials, cohort studies and case-control series comparing laparoscopic versus open Burch, and two versus one stitch in laparoscopic Burch, with a minimum follow-up of one year. Fourteen studies compared laparoscopic versus open Burch, in which we found no differences between the two techniques using one stitch (Relative Risk - RR - of 0.94, 95% CI 0.79-1.11) and two stitches (RR of 1.03, 95% CI 0.97-1.10). Only one study compared one stitch versus two stitches in laparoscopic Burch, with cure rates of 68% versus 87%, respectively (p-value= 0.02). We did not identify differences when compared open technique with two stitches versus laparoscopic with one stitch and open technique with two stitches versus laparoscopic with two. The study comparing one versus two laparoscopic stitches demonstrated superior results with the latter. Although there is no robust evidence, when Burch surgery is performed laparoscopically, the use of two stitches seems to be the best option.