Predictors of vaginal mesh exposure after midurethral sling placement: a case-control study.

Objective: Female stress urinary incontinence is highly prevalent, and synthetic midurethral sling placement is the most common type of anti-incontinence surgery performed in the USA. We aimed to identify risk factors associated with surgery used to treated vaginal mesh exposure after midurethral sling placement for stress urinary incontinence.

Methods: We identified women who underwent anti-incontinence procedures from January 2002 through December 2012. Patients with vaginal mesh exposure undergoing surgical repair after midurethral sling placement were compared with a control group without mesh exposure in a 1:3 ratio. Patients with ObTape sling placement (Mentor Corporation) were excluded. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate associations between clinical risk factors and vaginal mesh exposure.

Results: Overall, 2,123 patients underwent primary sling placement, with 27 (1.3 %) having vaginal mesh exposure necessitating surgical repair. Patients with mesh exposure were more likely to have undergone previous bariatric surgery (P = 0.008), hemoglobin <13 g/dL (P = 0.006), premenopausal status (P = 0.008), age <50 years (P = 0.001), and the retropubic approach to sling placement (P = 0.03). Multivariate analysis identified these risk factors: previous bariatric surgery (odds ratio [OR], 7.0; 95 % CI, 1.1-61.4), retropubic approach (OR, 5.7; 95 % CI, 1.1-107.0), preoperative hemoglobin <13 g/dL (OR, 2.8; 95 % CI, 1.1-7.5), and premenopausal status (OR, 2.6; 95 % CI, 1.0-7.3). Among postmenopausal patients, those with mesh exposure were significantly more likely to receive preoperative estrogen therapy (OR, 12.4; 95 % CI, 2.7-57.8).

Conclusions: Previous bariatric surgery, retropubic approach, premenopausal status, and lower preoperative hemoglobin were associated with a significantly increased risk of surgery for vaginal mesh exposure after midurethral sling placement. Recognizing these factors can improve preoperative patient counseling.