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Comparison between laser and transobturator tape therapy in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence and role of overweight in treatment: a prospective observational study

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Abstract

Introduction and hypothesis

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is treated with transobturator tape (TOT) sling procedures, but problems arise with artificial mesh in certain instances. Hence, non-invasive laser therapy may be useful under such circumstances. The current study was aimed at comparing the effects of these two treatments and at checking their applicability in various body mass index (BMI) groups.

Methods

Seventy-nine patients, who were clinically diagnosed with SUI, were divided into two groups, those who preferred TOT and those who preferred the transvaginal fractional micro-ablative CO2 laser system. The SUI symptoms and International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Short Form (ICIQ-SF) scores of the patients were determined before and at the 12th month after the treatment. General linear model, Stuart–Maxwell, and Bonferroni correction for pairwise comparison analyses were performed to compare the efficacy of the treatment type.

Results

The ICIQ-SF score decreased by 56.8% for laser therapy and 43.5% for TOT therapy (mean ± SE = 5.97 ± 0.16 and 5.09 ± 0.14 respectively). Laser therapy had a better effect on ICIQ-SF than TOT therapy (η2p: 0.176, ptime*group < 0.001). Regardless of the types of treatment, the ICIQ-SF scores of healthy-weight participants decreased more than those of overweight participants (η2p:0.050, ptime*group = 0.045). In the TOT group, healthy-weight participants were more than twice as likely to recover fully from SUI symptoms as overweight participants, 1 year after the treatment. In the laser group, the majority of healthy-weight participants (88.8%) did not report any SUI symptoms after the treatment.

Conclusions

The efficacy of laser therapy for urinary incontinence was confirmed. Furthermore, it was observed that being overweight may be a risk factor for the failure of laser therapy.

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Data availability

Data may be shared by the corresponding author when necessary.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the patients for their participation in the study. I would also like to thank Mustafa Gani Gençer, an academician at Fırat University, for his assistance in manuscript translation and editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Turkey

    Feray Çağıran Yılmaz

  2. Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Firat University, Elazig, Turkey

    Murat Açık

  3. Private Hospital, Diyarbakır, Turkey

    Fatma Çağıran

Authors
  1. Feray Çağıran Yılmaz
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  2. Murat Açık
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  3. Fatma Çağıran
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Contributions

F. Çağiran Yilmaz: designed research, conducted research, wrote the paper; M. AAçik: analyzed data or performed statistical analysis, wrote the paper; F. Çağiran: designed research, conducted research. All authors had primary responsibility for the final content and read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Murat Açık.

Ethics declarations

The presented study was conducted according to statements in the Declaration of Helsinki. A detailed consent form was provided. Diyarbakır Gazi Yasargil Training and Research Hospital Clinical Research Ethics Committee authorized the presented study by the number 2022–02-18.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Yılmaz, F.Ç., Açık, M. & Çağıran, F. Comparison between laser and transobturator tape therapy in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence and role of overweight in treatment: a prospective observational study. Int Urogynecol J 34, 2901–2908 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-023-05625-y

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