Urinary incontinence - tension-free vaginal tape
Alternative Names: TVT; Urethral suspension
Placement of tension-free vaginal tape is a procedure to help control stress incontinence, urine leakage that can happen when you laugh, cough, sneeze, lift things, or exercise. The procedure helps close your urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the outside) and the bladder neck (the part of the bladder that connects to the urethra).
See also:
- Urinary incontinence - collagen implants
- Urinary incontinence - retropubic suspension
- Urinary incontinence - vaginal sling procedures
Description of Procedure
You will have either general anesthesia or spinal anesthesia before the vaginal tape is put in place.
- In general anesthesia, you will be asleep and feel no pain.
- In spinal anesthesia, you will be awake but numb from the waist down, and you will not feel pain.
A catheter (tube) will be placed in your bladder to drain urine from your bladder.
A small surgical cut is made in your vagina, just below the opening that urine passes through. Two small cuts (a little more than 1/2 inch) are made in your belly just above your pubic hair line or in your groin.
A special man-made (synthetic) tape is passed through one of the cuts in your belly or groin. It is passed under your urethra, and then back up through the other cut in your belly or groin.
The doctor then adjusts the tension (tightness) of the tape so you will not leak. If you do not receive general anesthesia, you may be asked to cough.
The surgery will take about 2 hours.
Risks of Urinary incontinence - tension-free vaginal tape
Risks for any surgery are:
- Bleeding
- Breathing problems
- Infection in the surgical cut or the cut opens up
- Other infection
Risks for this surgery are:
- Changes in the vagina (prolapsed vagina, where the vagina is not in the proper place)
- Damage to the urethra, bladder, or vagina
- Erosion (breaking down) of tape
- Fistula (or connection) between the vagina and the skin
- Irritable bladder, where you may feel the need to urinate more often
- It may be harder to empty your bladder, or you may not be able to empty your bladder and need a catheter
- Pubic bone pain
- Urine leakage may get worse
- You may have a reaction to the synthetic tape
Learn more about Urinary incontinence - tension-free vaginal tape
Reviewed By: Louis S. Liou, MD, PhD, Chief of Urology, Cambridge Health Alliance, Visiting Assistant Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
Copyright 2011 A.D.A.M., Inc.
