Ambulatory MiniArc Precise Sling under Local Anesthesia for Stress Urinary Incontinence: Feasibility and Outcome

AIMS: The aim of the study is to assess the feasibility of ambulatory stress urinary incontinence (SUI) surgery using the MiniArc Precise single-incision urethral sling without increasing the number of complications. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a retrospective observational study of prospectively collected data carried out in a Tertiary Referral Hospital in Barcelona, Spain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty patients diagnosed with SUI or stress predominant mixed urinary incontinence (MUI) treated surgically between November 2011 and November 2013. The MiniArc Precise(®) sling was inserted under local anesthesia in the ambulatory setting. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Descriptive statistics included frequencies and percentages for categorical variables and mean and range for quantitative variables. The statistical package used was SPSS version 17.0. RESULTS: Urodynamic studies showed SUI in 78% of cases and stress predominant MUI in 17%. Clinical findings included SUI in 56% of cases and MUI in 44%, with positive stress tests in all participants. The mean intraoperative pain (1–10 Visual Analog Scale) was 2. All patients were satisfied with the use of local anesthesia in the outpatient setting. Perioperative complications did not occur. One case of urinary retention and two cases of urinary tract infection (UTI) developed within this 1(st) month after operation and were successfully managed conservatively. Midterm complications included eight cases of UTI and four de novo urge incontinence. CONCLUSIONS: Placement of the MiniArc Precise sling under local anesthesia is a feasible and safe technique, which when carried out by an experienced surgeon allows to be done as an outpatient basis without increasing the rate of postprocedural complications.