| خلاصه مقاله | Objective: The current gold standard surgical treatment for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is either trans-obturator or retropubic placement of tension-free
mid-urethral sling (MUS). However complications including mesh extrusion,
sling failure, voiding dysfunction, dyspareunia, recurrent urinary tract infection
(UTI) and de novo overactive bladder (OAB) can occur in a small group of patients. Sling position may play role in predicting outcomes and complications
associated with surgery. Ultrasound is an available and acceptable modality that
can easily visualize the echogenic sub-urethral mesh and its position relative to
surrounding structures. In this study using trans-labial ultrasound, we evaluated
sling position and its association with post-operative outcomes and complications.
Methods: In this prospective cohort, 92 patients who underwent MUS procedure between May 2013 and May 2018 were evaluated. Complications were
assessed in post-operative follow-up visits. In addition, two-dimensional (2D)
translabial ultrasound with endovaginal probe was used to visualize the urethral
length (UL), sling distance to the bladder neck and sling distance to the longitudinal smooth muscle (LSM) of the urethra. Statistical analysis was performed to
assess the association between sling position and surgical outcomes. Written informed consent was obtained from all patients and institutional review board approved the study.
Results: A total of 92 women (mean age ± SD: 47.78 ± 9.83) with a median
follow-up period of 11 months (interquartile range 5 to 24 months) were recruited in this study. Mean sling-LSM distance, UL and sling-bladder neck distance were 5.97±2.04 mm, 28.66±3.19 mm and 18.85±4.46 mm respectively.
Sling was placed in the proximal, middle and distal third of the urethra in
1.1%, 52.7% and 46.2% of patients respectively. SUI improved in 90.2% of patients whereas urge incontinence improved in 48.4% during the follow up period. Sling position relative to bladder neck (proximal vs. middle vs. distal)
was not associated with surgery outcomes and complications; however, mean
sling-LSM distance in patients who had mesh erosion (4.3% of patients) was
significantly higher compared to those who did not experience erosion (8.80
±1.9 vs. 5.8±2.0, P value=0.004). Dyspareunia occurred in 7.4% of patients
and was associated with higher mean sling-LSM distance (7.42±2.3 mm vs.
5.9±2.0 in patients with and without dyspareunia respectively, P=0.049). In contrast, mean sling-LSM distance was lower (4.93 mm) in patients with recurrent
UTI. Moreover, the mean sling-LSM distance was lower in patients who were
satisfied with the surgery (visual analogue scale (VAS) >6) (5.87mm compared
to 6.29 mm).
Conclusions: Ultrasound visualization of MUS is feasible and has the potential to predict outcomes and complications following MUS placement. High
sling-LSM distance was associated with erosion and dyspareunia and low
sling-LSM distance increased the probability of recurrent UTI. Further studies
are necessary to determine optimal sling-LSM distance |