High urinary flow in women with stress incontinence: corrected flow-age nomogram evaluation after a transobturator tape procedure.

Abstract

We noninvasively compared urinary flow in both pre- and post-transobturator tape (TOT) procedures in stress urinary incontinence (SUI) patients using previously reported corrected flow-age nomograms in healthy women. This retrospective cohort study included patients who underwent a successful TOT procedure to treat SUI. Non-instrumented uroflowmetry was performed before and 3months after surgery. Corrected maximum flow rate (cQmax) and average flow rate (cQave) were calculated using Qmax/√voided volume (VV) and Qave/√VV respectively. The ratio of corrected flow to age-adjusted corrected flow in healthy women was calculated in each patient. Each parameter was compared against pre-TOT and 3-months post-TOT values. Sixty-two patients were eligible for study inclusion. All urinary flow parameters were significantly higher pre-TOT than at 3months post-TOT. The number of patients with cQmax and cQave over mean flow-age nomogram, compared with healthy women, before the TOT procedure decreased 3months post-TOT; however, in many patients, cQmax and cQave were higher than in the corrected flow-age nomogram post-TOT. No significant difference in the ratio of cQmax to age-adjusted cQmax between pre- and post-TOT in the normal urinary flow group was observed, but significantly decreased in the high urinary flow group 3months after TOT. Urinary flow rates were higher in SUI patients compared with age-matched controls and successful TOT procedures normalized urinary flows in patients with high urinary flow. A simple evaluation of urinary flow using a corrected flow-age nomogram may be clinically useful in SUI patients.