Laparoscopic removal of intravesically inserted transobturator tape

The aim of this video is to provide a step-by-step description of our approach to the surgical management of intravesically localized transobturator tape after previous failure of repeated cystoscopic tape resection.

This video presents a patient with tape erosion to the urinary bladder after repeated cystoscopic tape resection, recurrent stone formation, and repeated lithotripsy, with recurrent urinary tract infections and overactive bladder (OAB) with urgency incontinence.

During the laparoscopy procedure tape was identified in the left obturator muscle, cut near the obturator muscle, and dissected up to the bladder wall. Afterward, a vertical 2-cm incision was made in the bladder wall, the stone was removed, and the rest of the tape was dissected from the bladder wall. A two-layer suture of the bladder wall was performed. The postoperative course was uneventful. In follow-up visits 3 and 6 months after surgery the patient was continent with no symptoms of OAB.

Cystoscopic resection of protruded mesh is inadequate in many cases. In such cases the mesh should be removed from the urinary bladder wall completely. Laparoscopy allows minimally invasive complete removal of the tape, combining resection of the extravesical and intravesical parts of the tape.