Investigation of the efficacy of transobturator tape (TOT) surgery in stress urinary incontinence

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of transobturator vaginal tape (TOT) in the management women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and to analyze functional results and subjective cure rates at follow-up visits. METHODS: Eighty-three consecutive women with SUI underwent TOT procedure. Data related to operative time, pre- and post-operative complications were collected. Subjective cure was defined as the absence of any urine loss on physical activity. RESULTS: Mean age of the patients was 53.2 years, and 66.3% of the patients had pure SUI. The mean operative time was 24.96 min in cases of isolated SUI treatment. The mean hospital stay was 1.53 +/- 0.68 days. At a mean follow-up of 32.8 months, the median subjective cure rate was 68.7 percent. Bladder injury (8.4%) was the only short and long term complication of this procedure. CONCLUSION: TOT is a safe and effective procedure for SUI with a low rate of long-term complications. The short-term complication like bladder perforation may develop based on the experience of the surgeons or concomitant pelvic surgery.