Patients lost to follow-up after midurethral sling surgery: how are they?

To assess the ratio of patients lost to follow-up (FU) after midurethral sling surgery, to evaluate their success rate and current status, and to identify the reasons for FU loss.

Two-hundred thirty-eight patients who received trans-obturator tape (TOT) surgery were reviewed. For patients lost to FU within 3 months, Stamey's outcome questionnaire and questions regarding the reasons for FU loss were submitted via phone interview.

One hundred forty-three (60.1%) patients (FU loss group) were lost to FU within 3 months postoperatively. In the FU loss group, phone interviews were conducted with 117 (81.8%) patients. Aside from the urgency rate (59.3% vs. 72.3%, p=0.049), there were no significant statistical differences in preoperative profiles between two group. The success rate of the FU loss group (80.3%, 94 of 117 patients) was lower than that of the FU group (95.8%, 91 of 95 patients) (p=0.001). The success rates in the FU loss group with mixed urinary incontinence (MUI) were significantly lower than in the FU group with MUI. As for the reason for FU loss, 74 patients (62.7%) were lost due to incontinence improvement, 19 patients (16.1%) cited personal problems, and 5 patients forgot the next follow-up date. Only 10 patients gave up further treatment despite their persisting incontinence.

In our study, more than half of patients were lost to follow-up after midurethral sling surgery. The FU loss group showed a lower surgical success rate, particularly with MUI. Close FU is recommended for better consultation of patients ' incontinence.