Transversal incision of the vagina favors the remaining of the tape in the middle-third urethra compared to longitudinal incision during transobturator sling procedures for stress urinary incontinence

BACKGROUND: To describe a new type of incision of the vagina during transobturator sling procedure and to evaluate by ultrasound the tape position at 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. We conducted a prospective study including 51 patients with urinary stress incontinence who underwent sling procedure using the transversal vaginal incision. Tape position was evaluated by ultrasound at 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery and expressed as a percentage of the urethral length (the proximal third of the urethral length 0–39 %, the middle third 40–60 %, and the distal third 60–100 %). Informed consent was obtained from all patients prior to their inclusion in the study. All procedures have been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments and were approved by the Institutional Review Board and Ethical Committee of “Victor Babeş” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara before the beginning of the study (no 7/17.04.2012). RESULTS: At 3 months after surgery, 3.92 % of the slings were located in the proximal third of the urethra, 88.23 % in the middle third of the urethra and 7.84 % in the distal third. At 6 and 12 months after surgery we obtained similar results: 9.81 % of the slings were located in the proximal third of the urethra, 82.35 % in the middle third and 7.84 % in the distal third of the urethra. CONCLUSION: The transversal incision of the vagina offers a minimal dissection along the long axis of the urethra favoring the remaining of the tape in the middle third of the urethra.