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Original Paper
Urol Int 2010;85:436–442
DOI: 10.1159/000314918
Efficacy of the InVance
TM
Male Sling in
Treating Stress Urinary Incontinence:
A Three-Year Experience from a Single Centre
Anastasios Athanasopoulos
a
Angelis Konstantinopoulos
b
Edward McGuire
a
a
Department of Urology, Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich., USA;
b
Urodynamic Urology Unit,
Medical School, University of Patras, Patras, Greece
mon complication (11.6%). The severity of preoperative in-
continence correlated with the outcome of the operation,
with mild incontinence giving better results. Conclusions:
The bone-anchored male sling is an effective and minimally
invasive treatment for mild-to-moderate male urinary incon-
tinence. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel
Introduction
Male stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a potential
complication of prostate surgery. Radical prostatectomy
is the most common intervention to provoke sphincter
insufficiency while prostatic adenomectomy and trans-
urethral resection of the prostate are less common causes
of incontinence. Even less commonly, SUI may be caused
by other neurological conditions or by traumatic injury.
Interestingly, SUI often improves over 6–12 months fol-
lowing surgery and regardless of the severity of the incon-
tinence [1].
Treatment options include collagen injection, implan-
tation of an artificial urinary sphincter (AUS), and sur-
gical male sling placement. The injection of collagen is
a frequent intervention in patients with mild intrinsic
Key Words
InVance
TM
bulbourethral sling ? Male stress urinary
incontinence ? Prostheses and implants ? Radical retropubic
prostatectomy
Abstract
Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the ef-
ficacy of the InVance
TM
male sling in treating stress urinary
incontinence. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively re-
viewed operative logs from a single surgeon of 43 patients
treated over a 3-year period (Feb. 2004 to Nov. 2006) for
stress incontinence by implantation of a male bulbourethral
bone-anchoring sling (InVance
TM
). The mean follow-up time
was 24.2 months (range 4–38). Radical prostatectomy was
the most common cause of incontinence in this group (33/
43 cases; 76.7%). Efficacy was evaluated objectively in terms
of the number of pads used per day, while subjective patient
satisfaction was also recorded. We also investigated a pos-
sible correlation between preoperative parameters and out-
come. Results: Twenty-two patients (51.2%) were cured (to-
tally dry: 30.2%; the remainder: 1 pad per day), while 8 (18.6%)
patients improved but still required two pads per day. Over-
all, 30 of 43 patients (69.6%) were satisfied with the outcome
of the operation. Postoperative infection was the most com-
Received: November 10, 2009
Accepted after revision: May 6, 2010
Published online: July 14, 2010
Internationalis
Urologia
Anastasios Athanasopoulos
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© 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel
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Accessible online at:
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