Urinary incontinence - vaginal sling procedures

Alternative Names: Pubo-vaginal sling; Transobdurator sling

Vaginal sling procedures help control stress incontinence, urine leakage that can happen when you laugh, cough, sneeze, lift things, or exercise. They help 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:

• Artificial sphincter surgery - urinary
• Urinary incontinence - collagen implants
• Urinary incontinence - retropubic suspension
• Urinary incontinence - tension-free vaginal tape

Description of Procedure

Vaginal sling procedures use:

• Tissue from your body
• Tissue from someone else's body
• Man-made (synthetic) material

The doctor will make one small surgical cut in your vagina and another small cut just above your pubic hair or in the creases of your thighs. Most of the procedure is done through the cut in your vagina.

The doctor creates a sling from the body tissue or synthetic material. The sling passes under your urethra bladder neck. The doctor attaches the sling to tissues in your lower belly that are very strong.

Risks of Urinary incontinence - vaginal sling procedures

Risks for any surgery are:

• Bleeding
• Blood clots in the legs that may travel to the lungs
• Breathing problems
• Infection in the surgical cut or the cut opens up
• Other infection

Risks for this surgery are:

• Breaking down of the synthetic material used for the sling
• Changes in the vagina (prolapsed vagina)
• Damage to the urethra, bladder, or vagina
• Fistula (connection) between the vagina and the skin
• Irritable bladder, where you may feel the need to urinate more often
• It may become harder to empty your bladder, and you may need to use a catheter
• Urine leakage may get worse

Review Date: 1/13/2011
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.

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