TVT OPERATION (TENSION-FREE VAGINAL TAPE) FOR URINARY INCONTINENCE
Urinary incontinence ocurring in cases of increased intraabdominal pressure such as coughing and laughing is called stress incontinence, and its treatment is surgery. TVT operation started to be used from the mid-1990s instead of long-lasting surgeries performed under general anesthesia which required opening of the abdomen in the past. This operation made a revolution in urinary incontinence surgery. Today, it has longest follow-up period (17 years) and the highest success rate in the medical literature. In this operation, a tape, 1 cm in width, is placed under the urethra, an organ that carries urine from the bladder to outside the body, and the ends of this tape are brought out through the abdomen above the pubic bone. This band is meshed from the surgical threads and does not cause reaction in the body.
The difference of this operation from TOT operation is the areas where the ends of the tapes are brought out. In TOT, the ends of the tape are brought out through the groin. TVT is a more difficult operation, but its success rate is higher than that of TOT, especially in difficult cases.
The superiorities of this operation:
- It takes a short time (30 minutes on average)
- The success rate is above 90%
- It can be performed under local anesthesia
- It is carried out through 1-2 cm incisions
- The patient is discharged on the same day
- The patient can return to work within 1-2 days after the surgery
- It is more successful than TOT in recurrent cases.
- The patient follow-up durations are longer than TOT in the literature
