The Follow-up After Shorter Tapes Study. Effectiveness and Safety of Shorter Trans-obturator Tapes.

Urinary incontinence after pregnancy and labor affects 1 in 3 women and has a negative impact on quality of life (QOL), limiting women's physical activity and impairing sexual function. The traditional surgical method treating female urinary incontinence is to implant a sub-urethral synthetic sling, the currently preferred method in Norway. The majority of women treated with synthetic slings obtain great improvement in QOL, but a few experience severe complications including chronic pelvic pain. Several countries, therefore, have reverted to older, less effective surgical methods to avoid synthetic material. Awareness of severe complications has, in some Norwegian hospitals, led to a shift in technique towards shorter slings. With shorter slings, the goal is to achieve the same grade of continence as traditional slings, but with fewer serious complications. The long-term results and comp