European Urology

Abstract

Background

There is a lack of information on the long-term outcomes of transobturator tension-free vaginal tape (TO-TVT) in the surgical treatment of female stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

Objectives

To assess the 3-yr outcomes following TO-TVT and to compare the effectiveness of inside-out versus outside-in approaches.

Design, setting, and participants

A 3-yr follow-up study of the Evaluation of Transobturator Tapes (E-TOT) trial, a randomised controlled trial (RCT) conducted with women undergoing TO-TVT as a sole procedure between April 2005 and April 2007 in a tertiary urogynaecology centre in the United Kingdom.

Intervention

Patients (n = 341) were randomised to undergo either TVT-O (Ethicon Inc., Somerville, NJ, USA) for the inside-out approach or TOT-Aris (Coloplast Corp., Minneapolis, MN, USA) for the outside-in approach.

Outcome measurements and statistical analysis

The primary outcome was patient-reported success rate. Secondary outcomes included further treatment for SUI, improvement in quality of life, late complications, and risk factors for late failures. Categorical variables were compared using the chi-square or Fisher exact test. Within-group comparison was undertaken using Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney tests. Risk factors for late failures were assessed in a multivariate regression model. All statistical analysis was performed using SPSS v.18.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA).

Results and limitations

The 3-yr follow-up was completed by 238 of the 341 women (70%). The overall success rate, based on Patient's Global Impression of Improvement response, was 73.1%, with no significant difference between the inside-out and the outside-in TO-TVT (73.18% vs 72.3%; odds ratio: 0.927; 95% confidence interval, 0.552–1.645; p = 0.796). Compared with the 1-yr follow-up, there was a significant reduction in the patient-reported success rate (p = 0.005); however, no independent risk factors were identified. A clinically significant improvement (≥10 points) was seen in 80% (n = 191) of women, with no significant difference between both groups (p = 0.113). Twenty-two women (6%) underwent further surgical treatment within 3 yr. The lack of an objective outcome assessment is a potential limitation of this RCT.

Conclusions

The E-TOT RCT showed a 73% patient-reported success rate for TO-TVT at 3-yr follow-up, with no significant differences between inside-out and outside-in approaches. There was a significant drop in patient-reported success rates between 1 and 3 yr.