Study design, materials and methods
Twenty females with concomitant apical prolapse and SUI due to urethral hypermobility were included. Patients with fixed urethra or ISD were excluded. All patients underwent ASC operation as a sole treatment without anti-incontinence procedure. Patients were informed that they may need anti-incontinence procedure afterwards.
Symptom-specific questionnaires were administered in the form of Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI-6), International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire short form (ICIQ-UI-SF) to evaluate incontinence, and Pelvic Organ Prolapse and Incontinence Sexual Function questionnaire (PISQ-12) short form to evaluate sexual function. All patients underwent urodynamic study (UDS) in the form of free uroflowmetry with PVR estimation, and pressure flow study with estimation of Valsalva leak point pressure (VLPP) before and after surgery.
The following parameters were assessed in the MRI:
1-Degree of bladder descent: which is the vertical distance between PCL & the bladder base.
2-Posterior urethro-vesical angle (PUV): It is the angle between the urethral axis & the posterior border of the bladder base or the trigone (15), normally it is less than 115º
3-Angle of urethral inclination (UI): It is the angle of the urethral axis in relation to the vertical plane, normally it is less than 30º (17).
4-Leading edge of the vaginal cuff (in cases of previous hysterectomy) or the location of the cervix (in cases of preserved uterus) in relation to the PCL
5-The anorectal junction in relation to the PCL
Interpretation of results
18 patients had no leak postoperatively (cured from SUI). They had a mean of 86.16 ± 13.76 cmH2O. Only two patients had postoperative SUI; however, they both reported improvement of their SUI. They showed improvement of their VLPP (mean of 86 ± 2 pre-operatively, which became 101 ± 8.49cmH2O). One of them underwent TOT insertion as she was bothered by her symptoms and she was continent after TOT. The other patient refused to undergo TOT insertion as her SUI symptoms were occasional and were of no bother to her.