Intentional urethral closure with a TVT (tension-free vaginal tape) for intractable urinary incontinence: a preliminary report of three cases

Bladder neck and urethral closure with urinary diversion is offered as a last resort to patients with intractable urinary incontinence. Various techniques have been described to achieve bladder neck and urethral closure. Most of these are associated with either operative morbidity or long-term complications. A modification of the conventional tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) procedure is described. As the name suggests, during the conventional TVT procedure, the tape is inserted relatively without tension in such a manner that the urethra retains its function and post-operative voiding is possible. In the cases described in this short series, the aim was to achieve urethral and bladder neck closure with minimal operative morbidity. This was achieved by inserting the TVT exactly as in a conventional TVT procedure, but the tape was inserted under greater tension than is normally used to ensure continence. A long-term suprapubic catheter was used for urinary diversion. This procedure is simple to perform, is associated with low operative morbidity [Agostini et al., Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol, 124(2):237–239, 2006] and results in functional urethral closure. Results suggest that it may be a useful alternative to other bladder neck and urethral closure procedures in selected patients.