Postoperative groin pain and success rates following transobturator midurethral sling placement: TVT ABBREVO® system versus TVT™ obturator system.

Introduction And Hypothesis: Placement of a transobturator midurethral sling (MUS) is the standard surgical treatment for stress urinary incontinence. Most recent MUS procedures have been poorly evaluated. We compared the results using a "new" device expected to reduce postoperative pain, the TVT ABBREVO® system (TVT-Abb), with those using the TVT™ obturator system (TVT-O).

Methods: This was a retrospective study comparing the use of the TVT-Abb (in 50 patients) and the TVT-O (in 50 patients). The main outcomes were the amount of postoperative pain, the success rate (no reported urinary leakage and negative cough test) with both MUS procedures, and the prevalence of complications.

Results: The mean follow-up time was 12 months. The preoperative characteristics of the two groups were comparable. There was less postoperative pain (VAS, 0 to 100) in the TVT-Abb group than in the TVT-O group (12.2 vs. 24.4, p < 0.01). However, at 6 weeks after surgery there was no significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.32). The incidence of de novo bladder outlet obstruction symptoms was similar in the TVT-Abb group and the TVT-O group (8 % vs. 12 %, p = 0.74). The prevalences of perioperative and postoperative complications (bladder/urethral injury, haemorrhage) in the two groups were equal. The success rates were similar at 12 months after surgery (88 % vs. 78 %, p = 0.29).

Conclusions: The success rates with TVT-Abb and TVT-O were equal at 12 months after surgery, but there was less immediate postoperative pain with TVT-Abb.