Tension-free vaginal tape: why an unusual concept is so successful

The surgical treatment of female stress urinary incontinence has been dramatically changed during the last 5 years, after Ulmsten introduced the tension-free vaginal tape procedure. This technique is based on a series of experimental investigations of the urethral closure mechanisms in women. The procedure is easy to learn, could be performed on an outpatient basis, and is recognized as a minimally invasive surgery. Despite these arguments, the most probable reason for its present success is the reproducibility of the results in the various published series. The success rate is estimated at between 85 and 95% for correction of genuine stress urinary incontinence. However, longer follow-up will be necessary to confirm these preliminary results, and probably to determine what are the most valuable prognostic factors.