Transobturator tape offers Tx option for stress urinary incontinence.(Gynecology)

MONTREAL -- Clinicians looking for a less invasive treatment for stress urinary incontinence can choose transobturator tape instead of tension-free vaginal tape, according to Italian researchers.

"The results [efficacy] are equal and the complications are very similar," said Ervin Kocjancic, M.D., a urology specialist at the University of Piemonte Orientale in Novara, Italy.

"This is a very important study because, until now, we had very little research comparing these methods," he said in an interview.

Dr. Kocjancic was one of the investigators in a multicenter trial that randomized 96 women with or mixed urinary incontinence to treatment with either tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) or transobturator tape (TOT).

All women had stress or mixed urinary incontinence with urethral hypermobility and a positive Bonney test, coinvestigator Elisabetta Costantini, M.D., reported at the annual meeting of the International Continence Society.

Follow-up included clinical check-ups at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months; symptom questionnaires (the Urogenital Distress Inventory, or UDI-6, and the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire, or IIQ-7); and free flowmetry with postmicturitional residue evaluation.

Intraoperative and postoperative complications (early and late) were recorded, as ...