Long-Term Results of Burch and Autologous Sling Procedures for Stress Urinary Incontinence in E-SISTEr Participants at 1 Site

PURPOSE: We report long-term outcomes in participants in the E-SISTEr (Extended Stress Incontinence Surgical Treatment Efficacy Trial) at 1 tertiary care center who underwent a Burch or a fascial sling procedure for stress urinary incontinence. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After receiving institutional review board approval E-SISTEr participants at 1 center who underwent midterm office evaluation in 2010 were further reevaluated at longer term followup by office visits and structured telephone interviews. The telephone interviews were performed by a third party not involved in patient care for those not seen in the last 2 years. Each group received validated questionnaires, including the UDI-6 (Urogenital Distress Inventory-Short Form), the IIQ-7 (Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-Short Form) and the visual analogue quality of life score questionnaire. Failure was measured by Kaplan-Meier curves using time to reoperation for stress urinary incontinence. RESULTS: Of the 29 eligible patients, including 14 treated with a Burch procedure and 15 treated with a sling procedure, 21 had long-term information available, including 11 and 10, respectively. Median followup was 15.1 years (range 11.2 to 16.0). One of the 8 patients was lost to followup, 1 died and 7 were unreachable by telephone. The UDI-6 question 3 score was lower for the 13 patients followed by telephone, including 13 and 7 with a Burch and a sling procedure compared to the 8 seen in clinic, including 5 and 3 with a Burch and a sling procedure, respectively (mean ± SD score 0.3 ± 0.6 vs 1.3 ± 1.1, p=0.0208). The UDI-6 scores were similar for the 2 procedures. Stress urinary incontinence reoperation was performed in 3 cases, including placement of a fascial sling in 1 Burch case. The other 2 cases in the Burch and sling groups received an injectable agent at 11.6 and 13.5 years, respectively. The overall Kaplan-Meier 15-year reoperation-free survival rate was 85.2% (95% CI 60.8-95). CONCLUSIONS: In this well characterized cohort with a median followup of 15.1 years there was sustained improvement in continence scores and quality of life related to stress urinary incontinence in each group and the reoperation rate was low.