Can the mini-sling become the golden standard for treating stress urinary incontinence?

Excerpt

The evolution of anti-incontinence surgeries is dramatic, and innovative paradigms change frequently. In the late 1990s, retropubic midurethral slings overtook Burch’s colposuspension to become the gold standard for surgical treatment of female urinary incontinence (SUI). In the past 2 decades, the second generation of the mid-urethral sling, transobturator tape, has proved to be as effective as retropubic midurethral slings with fewer intraoperative complications. Recently, the third generation of the mid-urethral sling, the mini-sling (using less mesh), has attracted attention because this procedure avoids passing trocars through the space of Retzius or through the obturator foramen. Theoretically, these procedures avoid bladder perforation and major vessel injury, which may occur during retropubic procedures, and postoperative thigh and groin pain, which may occur after transobturator procedures. …