Needle Suspension of the Bladder Neck Objective Results at 10 Years
Drs. G. Ralph, F. Zivkovic, F. Moser, K. Tamussino
University of Graz
Graz, Austria

Objective: To evaluate the objective results of needle suspension of the bladder neck for stress urinary incontinence 10 years postoperatively.
Methods: Fifty patients underwent clinical and urodynamic evaluation before and 10 years after needle suspension of the bladder neck (mostly in combination with vaginal hysterectomy and colporrhaphy). Eighteen additional patients were interviewed but not examined.
Results: Of the 50 examined patients, 28 (56%) were stress continent and 22 (44%) were stress incontinent. The latter included 8 patients who underwent a total of 10 further operations for recurrent incontinence in the interim. Suspension sutures were removed in 6/68 patients. 15/68 (22%) of patients had symptoms of overactive bladder and 9/50 (18%) had an abnormal cystometrogram. 39/68 women (57%) used pads because of urinary incontinence. The subjective cure rate was 30% in the examined patients and 40% in all interviewed patients.
Conclusions: While more than 50% of patients had a negative stress test 10 years after needle suspension of the bladder neck, the rate of persisting or recurrent urinary tract symptoms was high.
Key Words: Needle suspension, stress incontinence, surgery