[Stress urinary incontinence surgical treatment with suburethral suprapubic SPARC sling]

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) has a high incidence and important morbidity. Multiple surgical techniques have been described to treat it, with despair results. Suburethral slings have become, in recent years, a simpler and less invasive method to treat SUI surgically.

The purpose of this paper is to review, retrospectively, 86 patients treated at our institution, from 10/01 to 12/05 of SUI, with a suprapubic suburethral sling (SPARC).

Medium (range) age is 58.7 (39-80), hospital stay was 2.43 d (1-8) and catheter was removed 1.52 d (1-10). 14.5% of patients underwent other vaginal surgeries at same time, most frequently anterior colpoperineoplasty (10.7%). Complications are not very frequent; bladder perforation (5.8%), acute urinary retention (7%), chronic urinary retention (3.5%) and UTI (15.3%). Sling release was performed in 3.5% of women with chronic urinary retention. Total continence was found in 71.4% of patients with 10.1 months medium follow up (1-32). De novo urge symptoms were found in 26.2% of women, with urge incontinence in 54.5% of them. (p < 0.002; OR 5.0 (IC 95% 1.75-14.28).

Suprapubic suburethral SPARC sling is a simple method, with few complications and fast social recovery. Outcome can be measured soon, with a high continence rate. De novo urge symptoms are high and they worsen functional results. It is necessary longer follow-up to evaluate long term outcomes.