[Urinary incontinence, should fertile women undergo surgical procedure?]

The goal of this study was to make a Medline research about pregnancies which occur after surgical procedures for stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Therefore, we do not know the recurrence rate of SUI after pregnancy and the influence of the way of delivery on the risk of recurrence. We do not know either if we should apply a surgical procedure on women who have not achieved their pregnancies. In 1998, a questionnaire based survey conducted in the USA showed a lower risk of recurrence after a caesarean section than after a vaginal delivery (p=0,03) when women had previously colposuspension or sling procedures. We found ten case reports and a French national survey (2006) about pregnancies after TOT or TVT procedure. No complication related to the tape was described during pregnancy. The recurrence rate along the pregnancy is about 15%, and the global recurrence rate (during pregnancy and after the childbirth) is about 20%. As a conclusion, pregnancy itself has an influence, and vaginal delivery seams to increase the risk of recurrence after the birth compare to the c-section. However this recurrence rate and these data do not appear enough to us to refuse a surgical treatment for women who have not completed their pregnancies and who suffer from UI without efficacy of physiotherapy. We do not have objective data to assess the best way of delivery. Further and large studies are needed although they are difficult to be carried through.