Selecting the Best Surgical Option for Stress Urinary Incontinence

Although there are many surgical procedures available to treat urinary incontinence, obtaining the best results depends on a thorough preoperative evaluation of the patient. Traditional urodynamic evaluation of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) focusing on maximum urethral closing pressures has been found to be less useful than the abdominal leak point pressure (ALPP) test in detecting intrinsic sphincter deficiency (ISD). An ALPP less than or equal to 60cm H2O indicates a significant degree of ISD, whereas a leak point pressure greater than or equal to 90cm H2O is usually associated with pure urethral hypermobility. When combined with the history, physical examination, and a filling cystometrogram, the additional objective data obtained from ALPP permit an accurate classification of the stress incontinence and are useful to the clinician in choosing the most appropriate treatment. Anterior colporrhaphy is still commonly used by gynecologists to treat SUI, but the narrow indications (type I SUI only) and poor long-term results have decreased its popularity. It is a poor choice for treating SUI related to urethral hypermobility. Retropubic urethropexy is the treatment standard for SUI procedures against which all other procedures have been compared. Five-year cure rates are in the range of 80% to 90%. Other procedures for treating SUI related to urethral hypermobility include laparoscopic bladder neck suspension, abdominal paravaginal repair, and needle bladder neck suspension. Surgical treatment for ISD differs from that for urethral hypermobility and includes pubovaginal sling procedures, injectable agents, and insertion of the artificial urinary sphincter. Concurrent pelvic prolapse conditions should be treated simultaneously and may dictate the surgical approach. When the proper procedure is utilized, good long-term results can be expected.