Unplanned Hospital Visits in the First 30 Days After Urethral Sling Procedures

To evaluate unplanned hospital visits within 30 days of urethral sling placement in the form of emergency department visits, inpatient admissions, or repeat surgery.

We accessed nonpublic data from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development in the state of California for the years 2005-2011. All female patients who underwent an ambulatory urethral sling procedure (Current Procedural Terminology 57288) without concomitant surgery (other than cystoscopy) were included. Any subsequent emergency department visit, inpatient admission, or sling revision operation within 30 days of the original surgery were then examined.

A total of 28,635 women were identified who underwent outpatient urethral sling placement as a sole procedure. Within 30 days, 1630 women (5.7%) had at least 1 unplanned hospital visit. This included 1327 emergency department visits (4.7%), 295 inpatient admissions (1.0%), and 79 sling revisions (0.28%). Urinary retention and Foley catheter problems were the most common emergency department visit diagnoses (18.7% of visits), followed by urinary tract infection (9.3% of visits).

One in 18 women will have an unplanned hospital visit within 30 days of urethral sling placement, the majority of which are emergency department visits (~81%). Our findings can be used to improve patient counseling and suggest areas that one might target to decrease unnecessary emergency department visits in the early postoperative period.