Suburethral sling using the transobturator approach: A quality-of-life analysis

The objective of the study was to determine the degree of benefit of a transobturator midurethral polypropylene sling in patients with stress urinary incontinence through a quality-of-life instrument and outcome analysis. Forty-seven patients completed the validated Individual Incontinence Impact Questionnaire both before and after treatment. Subjects also completed the validated Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire postoperatively to complete outcome analysis. Statistical analyses included a paired Student t test for intrapair comparisons and 2-sample t tests to compare mean differences between groups. Individual Incontinence Impact Questionnaire scores for the entire sample declined from a preoperative mean of 43.0 ± 27.0% to a postoperative mean of 11.8 ± 16.4 ( P < .0001). On review of Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire responses, 45 patients (95.7%) were completely satisfied or somewhat satisfied, and 42 subjects (89.4%) stated their leakage was much better or better. The transobturator midurethral sling provides a significant improvement in quality-of-life and high postoperative patient satisfaction.