Anatomical Reasoning for Atraumatic Trocar Placement during Implantation of a Transobturator Suburethral Sling

The aimof this research was to study the variant anatomy of the obturator complex in terms of surgical treatment of stress urinary incontinence, as well as to determine the most atraumatic technique for conducting a surgical trocar for a transobturator suburethral sling.Material and methods.A suburethral sling was implanted on 40 sagittally dissected samples of the female pelvis with preserved soft tissues using two techniques: the conventional one based on the use of external landmarks and the technique of the trocar rotation around the lower branch of the pubic bone developed at the University Clinic of St. Petersburg. After implantation of a transobturator suburethral sling, the probability of injury to the branches of the obturator nerve was assessed by precision preparation for each of the presented techniques using 40 samples. It was also suggested to develop a protocol for atraumatic placement ofa sling for stress urinary incontinence.Results. Based on the results obtained and study of the topographic relationships of the trocar and branches of the obturator nerve, it is concluded that the obturator complex has significant anatomical variability. This relates to both the muscular component –the internal and external obturator muscles, and neurovascular structures. The obturator nerve has two types of branching: joint and separate. The latter is a risk factor for intraoperative nerve injury. The technique of suburethral sling implantation by rotating the surgical trocar around the inferior branch of the pubic bone is atraumatic and safe.Conclusions.Variant anatomy of the obturator complex influences the probability of trauma in a transobturator suburethral sling implantation. In particular, the separate branching of the obturator nerve is a risk factor for its intraoperative injury. Further clinical studies are required to assess the outcomes of surgical t reatment of stress urinary incontinence taking into account the variant anatomy of the true pelvis.

Anatomical premises for the variability of the results of transobturator mid-urethral sling

Introduction. The implantation of a synthetic sub-urethral sling is the main method of surgical correction of stress urinary incontinence (SUI). However, the investigation results of long-term effectiveness indicate the ambiguity of the surgery outcomes. In addition, the problem of pain in the perineum remains relevant for everyday practice. One of the important aspects in this matter may be a variant technique for installing a suburethral sling, including based on the anatomical variability of the small pelvis.Purpose of the study. To identify key anatomical factors that can negatively affect the effectiveness and safety of the environment of suburethral sling surgery for urinary incontinence in women.Materials and methods. The study consisted of 2 parts - anatomical and clinical. In the anatomical part of the study, a suburethral sling was implanted on 20 preparations of a female pelvis with a lower limb and preserved soft tissues. The clinical part of the study involved 50 patients with stress urinary incontinence. These patients underwent installation of a transobturator suburethral sling in two ways using the “inside-out” technique: using the standard “external landmarks” technique and using the proposed anatomical technique developed in the first part of the study. After visualization of the suburethral sling using the original method, the outcomes of the operations were assessed depending on the location of the sling in the patient's tissues.Results. In the anatomical part of the study, the most atraumatic method of suburethral sling implantation was determined by rotating the tool around the lower branch of the pubic bone. In the clinical part of the study, this method demonstrated a higher efficiency of the operation at a follow-up of 1 year, presumably due to the U-shaped angle of the «hammock» for the urethra, which is characteristic of the retropubic sling.Conclusion. Outcomes of operations for SUI depend, among other things, on the method of the suburethral sling implantation.

Embolization in Patient with Hypovolemic Shock after Transobturator Sling Procedure

The placement of a suburethral sling is standard treatment for stress urinary incontinence. The transobturator technique (TOT) emerged as an alternative to minimize the risks of the blind insertion of needles, leading to a lower rate of perforation complications compared with the retropubic approach. We present a case of injury to a branch of the left obturator artery following the placement of a urethral sling using TOT, followed by intense bleeding and hemodynamic instability, which was treated with embolization.

Complications after different surgical methods for suburethral implantation of polypropylene slings in women with stress urinary incontinence

Objective: to identify the proportion of complications after suburethral implantation of polypropylene slings in women with stress urinary incontinence based on a seven-year experience. Material and Methods. We conducted the analysis of а seven-year experience in various implantation techniques of suburethral slings in 1260 women with stress urinary incontinence: inside-out and outside-in obturator sling fixation; suprapubic sling fixation and non-trocar mini-sling installment. Results. The highest incidence of complications was observed over the first two years after suburethral sling implantation was performed. Subsequently, the proportion of complications declined progressively to the lower limit values of 7-8% in the course of three last years. An incidence of early surgical complications among various suburethral sling implantation techniques had no statistically significant differences. However, after the suprapubic sling implantation, intraoperative and mesh-associated complications prevailed. Conclusion. Our study confirmed that suburethral sling implantation using suprapubic fixation method was associated with a higher incidence of complications and should have been performed exclusively for the target group of the patients, for whom safer surgical procedures were contraindicated.