Suburethral Slingplasty Using a Self-fashioned Gynemesh for Treating Urinary Incontinence and Anterior Vaginal Wall Prolapse

SummaryObjectiveThis study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of self-fashioned Gynemesh for the concomitant treatment of urinary incontinence and anterior vaginal wall prolapse, and the factors involved in mesh erosion.Materials and MethodsFrom March 2004 to September 2006, 65 women with urinary incontinence, with or without pelvic organ prolapse or prior surgery for prolapse or incontinence, were recruited for this study. A self-fashioned Gynemesh was used for the concomitant treatment of urinary incontinence and anterior vaginal wall prolapse. Patients in this study underwent suburethral slingplasty and/or concomitant pelvic reconstructive operations. A general linear model univariate analysis was performed to assess the relationships between mesh erosion and various variables.ResultsThe mean postoperative follow-up was 33 months. Those patients with anterior wall prolapse presented as completely cured postoperatively. The cure rate for urinary incontinence was 80%, and the improvement rate was 17%. Vaginal mesh erosion was discovered in four patients (6%) during the postoperative follow-up. These four patients remained continent after the removal of the eroded mesh. The interactive effects for mesh erosion by a general linear model analysis were menopausal women with advanced anterior vaginal wall prolapse (p < 0.05) and women with advanced anterior vaginal wall prolapse with concomitant sacrospinous ligament fixation (p < 0.05).ConclusionWe found that using self-fashioned Gynemesh for tension-free suburethral and anterior vaginal slingplasty provided a high success rate (97%) in the 3 years of follow-up. Mechanical rejection may be one of the causes of vaginal mesh erosion.