Data from 2-year follow-up: TVT as effective as colposuspension for SUI.(Gynecology)

Tension-free vaginal tape appears as effective as colposuspension for the surgical treatment of female stress urinary incontinence, according to 2-year outcomes from a multicenter trial in England and Ireland.

Unlike colposuspension, a transvaginal tape (TVT) procedure can be performed under local anesthesia in less than 30 minutes, and many patients return home the same day. This is the first study to compare the two treatments in a randomized, prospective trial, reported Dr. Karen L. Ward of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (England) and her associates.

In a study sponsored by Gynecare, which is the maker of the TVT device, 169 women with urodynamic stress urinary incontinence (SUI) were randomized to colposuspension and 175 to TVT, which uses a mesh sling to provide support to the middle of the urethra, the section that is strained during physical activities.

When data were analyzed on an intention-to-treat basis, with the assumption that patients with missing data were treatment failures, 63% of the TVT group and 51% of the colposuspension group were objectively cured at 2 years (Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 190[2]:324-31, 2004).

Only 44 women in the TVT group and 34 in the colposuspension group reported no leakage under any circumstances after surgery.

The number of women reporting cure of their stress leakage was 75 and 63, respectively.

There were no differences between ...