[Treatment of urinary stress incontinence. Crtical review of randomized comparative results]

A large number of operations have been proposed for the treatment of female urinary stress incontinence, but no consensus has been reached about a possible reference technique. The objective of our study was to analyse the quality of the methodology and results of randomized prospective studies comparing various surgical techniques for urinary stress incontinence since 1978. The statistical methodology of most of these studies was far from perfect. They usually compared colposuspension and support techniques, while sling techniques were only rarely studied. Most surgical techniques give a similar short-term success rate, which declines with time. In the long-term, the Burch technique is superior to the other techniques with which it has been compared.