Complications after male adjustable suburethral sling implantation

Argus suburethral sling implantation is a minimally invasive operation with the possibility to adjust the tension of the sling at any time after the procedure, which provides good treatment results for male stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

To determine the predictive factors, the incidence, severity and timing of the onset of complications after Argus sling implantation for males with post-operative SUI.

A total of 41 patients who underwent Argus sling implantation due to post-operative SUI were included. Median follow-up was 12 months. All complications were captured and graded according to severity and classified by timing of onset. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of the most common side effects.

Overall 22 (54%) of 41 males have experienced 31 complications. Three (7%) patients have experienced only intra-operative, 16 (39%) patients only post-operative and 3 (7%) patients both intra-operative and post-operative complications. The most common intra-operative complications were bladder perforation (12%) and external iliac vein injury (5%), while post-operative complications were acute urinary retention (29%), infection (10%) and perineal pain (7%). Previous radiotherapy has significantly increased the risk of intra-operative complications, while a non-significant tendency was observed for younger age, previous androgen deprivation therapy and grade 3 SUI. In terms of severity, most post-operative complications were classified as grade 3 according to the modified Clavien-Dindo system.

Argus sling implantation provides a tolerable complication rate, where acute urinary retention was the most common side effect. Previous radiotherapy significantly increases the risk of serious intra-operative complications.