Sexual function in women before and after tension-free vaginal tape operation for stress urinary incontinence

Abstract

Objective. To evaluate sexual function in women before and after tension-free vaginal tape operation for stress urinary incontinence. Design. Prospective study. Setting. Aalborg University Hospital, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics between November 2008 and June 2010. Population. Sixty-three women who had a tension-free vaginal tape operation performed. Methods. Patients completed the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire-12 (PISQ-12) and the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-UI SF) before undergoing surgery and 6 months postoperatively. Main outcome measures. Differences in PISQ-12 measures 6 months after the tension-free vaginal tape operation. Results. Twelve women were excluded because of non-completed questionnaires. Preoperatively the PISQ-12 score was 33.7 and postoperatively 36.7, giving a significant difference of 3.0 (p < 0.05). Forty women (78%) scored higher postoperatively, five (10%) scored the same and six (12%) reported lower scores postoperatively. Only PISQ-12 questions in the physical domain were significantly improved. These values were elevated close to the maximum score. Preoperatively 18 women (35%) experienced coital incontinence always, often or sometimes. Postoperatively this was only the case in two women. Conclusion. Most women experience an improvement in sexual life after a tension-free vaginal tape procedure mainly because of absence of incontinence during sexual activity or absence of fear of incontinence during sexual activity.