Mini–slings – an option in stress urinary incontinence treatment. Case studies

INTRODUCTION: Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a social disease caused by numerous contributing factors such as natural childbirth, obesity, hormonal deficiencies and changes in collagen fibers, to name a few. Currently, mini–slings, among all the surgical treatment methods, have gained significance. The aim of this study was to establish the effectiveness of this method. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From 2008 to 2012, one hundred sixty women suffering from SUI underwent surgical procedures to implant mini–slings under the middle part of the urethra and 140 (87.5%) of them remained under observation. In 65 cases, Johnson & Johnson's TVT–Secur was used; in 70 cases, BARD's Adjust mini–sling was used; and in 5 cases, AMS Mini–Arc mini–sling was used. The average period of hospitalization was 3 days per admission, operation and discharge day. RESULTS: In 82 cases, patients urinated well after the removal of the catheter, and had full urine continence. Fourteen patients showed great improvement, and in four cases temporary urine retention was observed. In two cases vaginal bleeding was observed, yet there was no need for wound revision. Evaluation of the ‘quality of life improvement’ was done using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). CONCLUSIONS: The obtained results allowed the conclusion that the implantation of mini–slings is a low invasive, relatively safe and effective procedure for the treatment of SUI even in cases of recurrence. Almost full recovery was achieved in all the cases of this study. The mini–sling has become an important element in modern urogynecology.