Suburethral sling inserted by the transobturator route in the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence: Preliminary results in 117 cases

Assesment of the transobturator out–in technique in the treatment of female urinary incontinence. Obtape, a non-woven, 5% polypropylene tape was inserted via the transobturator route in patients suffering from stress or mixed urinary incontinence. From 1 February 2003 to 30 April 2004 117 patients have been operated. Mean age was 55 years (37–82). Follow-up range from 7 to 22 months (median follow-up time 16.3 months). All patients were assessed before surgery by clinical gynaecological examination and an urodynamic workup (postvoid residual urine, flowmetry, voiding urgency thresholds and urethral profile). There were no major complications and no deaths. There were six (5.1%) minor intraoperative problems and three (2.5%) tape erosions. The subjective level of complete and partial patient satisfaction was 92.3% (108 patients) and 4.2% (5 patients), respectively. Four patients (3.4%) felt that the situation was unchanged. No patients felt that their situation had deteriorated (Table 4). There is a concern in operating the subgroup of patients suffering from low MUPC with dysuria as the cure rate is very low. Obtape ® transobturator tape is a safe, simple and rapid procedure for treating female stress urinary incontinence, avoiding the major risks of the retropubic approach. Evaluation of the results after a longer follow-up period is necessary to confirm the superiority of this technique.