Short-term complications of pubovaginal sling procedure for genuine stressincontinence in women

Objectives. To evaluate the complication rate intraoperatively and within t he first 30 postoperative days of the pubovaginal sling procedure. Methods. From January 1992 to September 1996, we prospectively analyzed 90 women with type II and III genuine stress incontinence (age 38 to 84 years, average Valsalva leak point pressure 57.5 cm H2O) who underwent the pubova ginal sling procedure at our institute. Sixty percent of patients had no pr evious surgical treatment for their incontinence. Thirty-three percent of o ur patients have significant comorbidity (chronic obstructive lung disease, diabetes, coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease). Results. The complication rate within the first 30 postoperative days was 1 9%, which included pneumonia (1.1%), deep venous thrombosis (1.1%), urinary retention (3.3%), wound infection (7.7%), intraoperative bladder laceratio n (3.3%), urinary tract infection (1.1%), and superficial thrombophlebitis (1.1%). A similar complication rate was noted among our patients with no pr evious surgical treatment for their incontinence. Conclusions. The complication rate of our prospective series of pubovaginal sling procedures was comparable to that of the other surgical procedures f or genuine stress incontinence reported in the literature. We conclude that even though the pubovaginal sling procedure is a relatively complex surger y, in view of its satisfactory long-term success rate reported in the recen t literature, pubovaginal sling procedure should also be considered a prima ry surgical treatment for genuine stress incontinence in a selected populat ion of women. (C) 2000, Elsevier Science Inc.