Anchor fixation and other modifications of endoscopic bladder neck suspension.
The long-term efficacy of surgical treatment of stress urinary incontinence can be improved by modifications that reduce the possibility of suspending suture detachment. Fifty-three women with stress urinary incontinence underwent consecutive endoscopic bladder neck suspensions with new modifications developed in an effort to decrease suspending suture detachment. Those modifications included: (1) technique of needle passage to capture a maximum volume of urethropelvic fascia lateral to the bladder neck and urethra while avoiding injury to the bladder, (2) pubic bone fixation of the suspending suture using a small anchor developed for orthopedic use, and (3) a simple technique to limit tension of the suspending sutures. Procedures were outpatient in 60 percent of patients (93% of the last 27 patients). Seventy percent of patients did not require intermittent catheterization beyond the day when their indwelling catheter was removed. The postoperative success rate (absence of stress urinary incontinence) at one month was 100 percent. There were 4 failures on follow-up up to fifteen months. Urgency incontinence decreased from 59 percent preoperatively to 15 percent postoperatively. The complication of osteitis pubis was not noted. Patient rating of satisfaction postoperatively was high. These modifications constitute a safe alternative to procedures that effectively suspend the bladder neck. An assessment of any change in long-term efficacy as a result of these modifications will require continued follow-up.