Surgical management and complications of urinary stress incontinence: our experience in 385 patients operated on during the last 25 years

We present the results and complications found and compared in 2 large series of patients who underwent a surgical procedure to avoid Urinary Stress Incontinence in our hospital. From january of 1994 to december of 2001 we collected 195 patients with an average age of 57.9 y we compared them with a prior series of 189 patients collected between january of 1976 and december of 1993, with an average age of 53.6. The continence rate was similar in both series (70.8% pre-94 and 74.5% post 94), slight incontinence 22.7% pre-94 and 19.2% post-94 and for complete incontinence 6.3% pre-94 and 6.2% post-94. The Burch procedure was the most common and also shows the greatest effectiveness in our trial involving 113 cases and a continence rate of 74.3% in the first series and 144 cases and 77% respectively in the second series. The most common complications were very similar in both groups: tract urinary infection (5.2% and 9% first and second group), surgical wound infection (4.2% and 2.2% respectively). We conclude that in spite of the introduction of new and useful surgical procedure (TVT, periurethal substances injection...) the greatest long term success rate still corresponds to the Burch colposuspension.