"Sling" for Incontinence After Prolapse Repair

Women who have never experienced urinary incontinence (see our ThirdAge article on the condition here) may end up with that extremely annoying problem after surgery to correct pelvic organ prolapse. A remedy for this is a "midurethral sling" that the surgeon puts in place during the operation, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on June 21st 2012.   Even so, the extra procedure itself can cause problems, including bladder perforation, and the mesh slings produced by Johnson & Johnson were recently phased out in response to law suits, as ThirdAge reported here.   The authors of the study, led by John T. Wei, M.D. of the University of Michigan, wrote, "A prophylactic midurethral sling inserted during vaginal prolapse surgery resulted in a lower rate of urinary incontinence at 3 and 12 months but higher rates of adverse events."   Our take on all of this here at ThirdAge is that if you're a candidate for prolapse repair, you would do well to be a very proactive patient and ask plenty of questions before opting for the surgery.