[Stress urinary incontinence. Evidence for 4 minimally invasive methods of treating - systematic overview]

Stress urinary incontinence is a common problem. A systematic review of 4 minimally invasive methods (Safyre, ACT, Argus, and ProACT) was undertaken to evaluate these methods and formulate recommendations.

Medline, EMBASE, databases of the University of York Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, databases of the International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment, and other web sites were searched for relevant literature. Nine studies were selected. Their core data were translated to extraction tables under peer review, the quality of evidence was assessed by the GRADE scheme, and for each method a recommendation was made.

For 2 of the methods (Safyre and ProACT), a restricted positive recommendation was made; for the other 2 methods, the quality of evidence was too low for a recommendation to be expressed.

The Safyre sling and the ProACT microballoon are methods for which the available evidence indicates a net benefit, but new studies may have a significant impact on the estimate of their effect. A later assessment of the evidence is therefore recommended.