Female Urethral Sling Surgery: Complications

Slings as surgical treatment for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) can be associated with a spectrum of perioperative and postoperative complications. Although overall complication rates of slings are low, pelvic surgeons must recognize common sling complications including intraoperative injury to the urinary tract, postoperative mesh extrusion/erosion, and symptoms of early and late postoperative voiding dysfunction after sling placement. This article will review incidence and etiology of common sling-related complications, discuss preoperative patient workup and optimization, review surgical techniques to prevent intraoperative complications, and outline the recognition, evaluation, and management of early and late postoperative complications related to sling treatments for SUI.