A minimally invasive modified technique for female stress urinary incontinence: transobturator tape without paraurethral dissection

INTRODUCTION: Mid-urethral slings, including transobturator tape (TOT), tension-free vaginal tape (TVT), tension-free vaginal tape-obturator (TVT-O), and a single incision sling, are the most popular procedures for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Although the classical TOT procedure is a minimally invasive technique, we believe that this technique can be further improved. AIM: To determine whether there was a difference in success and complication rates between the classical TOT technique and a novel technique called “modified transobturator tape” (mTOT), which avoids periurethral dissection. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In total, 98 patients who underwent incontinence surgery between July 2011 and January 2017 were recruited for this prospectively planned study. Of the 98 patients, 47 patients underwent classical TOT, and 51 patients underwent the new mTOT procedure. Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7 (IIQ-7) and visual analogue scale (VAS) scores were obtained preoperatively and postoperatively. Average or serious symptomatic scores in IIQ-7 were considered as subjective failure. RESULTS: Nerve damage, vascular damage, retropubic hematomas, and bladder-urethra erosion were not observed in either group. There were no significant between-group differences in IIQ-7 scores. There were also no between-group differences in postoperative 1-month, 6-month, and 1-year VAS scores, but postoperative first day scores of the mTOT group were significantly lower than those of the classical TOT group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The proposed modified technique provides the same efficiency and reliability as the classic technique but is more advantageous in terms of reduced pain and resumption of earlier sexual activity.