Medium-term results of Mini-arc for urinary stress incontinence in ambulatory patients under local anesthesia

To evaluate the medium-term outcome and patient's satisfaction after Single-incision mini-sling (SIMS) procedure done under local anesthesia in ambulatory set up for patients with stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

This is a retrospective cohort study, including all patients submitted to SIMS procedure for SUI with MiniArc (AMS, U.S.A) without concomitant surgery between January 2011 and March 2013. Patients were followed up during 12 months after surgery and once a year subsequently. Telephone interviews were conducted to evaluate patient satisfaction. Outcome masseurs included: SUI cure rate, urinary urge incontinence (UUI) cure rate in patients with mixed urinary incontinence (MUI), intra and post-operative complications and patient satisfaction.

Ninety-three patients were included with mean follow-up of 23 months. Fifty percent had MUI with predominant SUI. The cure rates of SUI (objective and subjective) were 89%. UUI was cured in 40% of patients. No major complications occur, neither voiding obstruction or groin pain. Telephone interviews conducted after 26 months on average revealed high satisfaction rate from the procedure (8.8 out of 10) and from the local anesthesia. Visual analog scale (VAS) rating was low during and after the procedure (2.38 and 2.69 respectively).

The SIMS procedure is safe and highly effective for SUI and it can be performed successfully under local anesthesia in an ambulatory setup.