Transobturator Tape for Female Stress Urinary Incontinence: Preoperative Valsalva Leak Point Pressure Is Not Related to Cure Rate or Quality of Life Improvement

Purpose: We investigated whether the Valsalva leak point pressure (VLPP) is valuable for predicting postoperative outcome measurement after transobturator suburethral tape (TVT-O) implantation for treating stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women. Materials and Methods: A total of 204 female patients who underwent TVT-O placement for treatment of SUI from March 2008 to February 2012 were enrolled in this retrospective study. All patients completed the incontinence quality of Life questionnaire (I-QoL), a self-reported quality of life measure specific to urinary incontinence, and the cure rate of incontinence was measured before and 6 months after surgery. Cure was defined as no leakage of urine postoperatively both subjectively and objectively. We compared pre- and postoperative I-QoL scores according to preoperative VLPP and Stamey grade. Results: The numbers of patients with Stamey grades I, II, and III were 99 (48.5%), 84 (41.2%), and 21 (10.3%), respectively. A total of 30 (14.7%), 87 (42.6%), and 87 patients (42.6%) showed VLPP≤60, 60＜VLPP≤90, and VLPP＞90 cm H2O, respectively. Preoperative VLPP was not significantly different according to preoperative I-QoL or change in I-QoL after surgery. However, I-QoL after surgery improved in patients with a high preoperative Stamey grade (p=0.001). Conclusions: VLPP was not a factor related to surgical outcome from the midurethral sling procedure. Stamey grade rather than VLPP was important for predicting subjective quality of life and improved incontinence-related quality of life after surgery.