Analysis of sexual function in women with an implanted mid-urethral sling
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15574/HW.2025.6(186).1017Keywords:
sexual function, stress urinary incontinence, sling, pelvic surgery, laser therapy, estrogensAbstract
Stress urinary incontinence negatively affects quality of life, social activity, and sexual health in women. In this context, the improvement of sexual function is a crucial indicator of treatment efficacy for urinary incontinence in this patient population.
Aim - to analyze sexual function as a key component of the clinical effectiveness of sling surgery in women with stress urinary incontinence.
Materials and methods. A comparative study of sexual function after sling surgical procedures for the correction of stress urinary incontinence was conducted in women under 50 years of age in two representative subgroups: IA (n=28) underwent free synthetic sling placement (TVT), and IB (n=30) underwent TVT-O combined with postoperative vaginal laser therapy. Women aged 50 and older were also divided into two subgroups: IIA (n=14) underwent TVT; IIB (n=10) underwent TVT-O followed by a postoperative course of promestriene (natural and semi-synthetic estrogens). Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS 21 software package.
Results. Vaginal laser therapy after TVT-O sling implantation significantly improved sexual function in a greater number of patients under 50 years of age compared to the corresponding comparison group. Vaginal promestriene therapy after TVT-O did not significantly affect the quality of sexual life in women aged 50 and older.
Conclusions. Sexual function is an important component in evaluating the effectiveness of sling surgical intervention in women with stress urinary incontinence. Differentiated assessment of clinical manifestations of sexual dysfunction using specialized questionnaires allows identification of potential directions for their correction during further treatment.
The research was carried out in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki Declaration. The study protocol was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of participating institution. Informed consent was obtained from all patients.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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