Pelvic pain and lower urinary tract symptoms; long-term comparison between women with and without mid-urethral sling...

Stress urinary incontinence is the most prevalent type of incontinence among women, with mid-urethral sling (MUS) surgery considered the gold standard surgical treatment. Despite its widespread use, the role of mesh in this procedure has sparked controversy over the past decade. The primary objective of this study was to compare pelvic pain in women who have undergone MUS surgery with those who have not. The secondary objective was to evaluate lower urinary tract symptoms in both groups.

This prospective cohort study included Swedish women who underwent MUS surgery between 2006 and 2010 and were registered in the GynOp database, and a reference group of Swedish women without MUS, self-registered in Lifegene, a national cohort launched in 2009. The women completed the Urogenital Distress Inventory questionnaire-6 (UDI-6) assessing pelvic pain and lower urinary tract symptoms, administered ~10 years after MUS surgery or at matched ages.

Pelvic pain was analyzed at least 10 years post-MUS surgery and in the reference group at matched ages. Significant differences in pelvic pain were observed among women aged ≥50 years. Logistic regression analysis, incorporating an interaction between MUS surgery and age, revealed adjusted odds ratios (aOR) for pelvic pain among women with MUS as follows: 0.82 (CI: 0.51-1.31) for women aged <50 years, 1.79 (CI: 1.13-2.42) for women aged 50-59 years, 1.85 (CI: 1.13-3.00) for women aged 60-69 years, and 2.08 (CI: 1.30-3.32) for women ≥70 years. Women with previous MUS surgery reported higher UDI-6 scores, indicating more bothersome lower urinary tract symptoms, except among those aged <50 years, compared with the reference group.

Women aged 50 years or older, who have undergone MUS surgery ≥10 years earlier, report more frequent pelvic pain and lower urinary tract symptoms than those who have not undergone MUS surgery. Whether this is related to the MUS surgery or an expression of a progressing pelvic floor dysfunction is unclear.