ask: Increased Incontinence After Bladder Sling Surgery
I had bladder sling surgery about a month ago and am actually having worse incontinence than I had before the surgery. I was diagnosed with stress incontinence before the surgery and had to wear a pad for leakage when I coughed or sneezed. Now I am wearing adult diapers because when I move from a sitting to a standing position almost all of the urine in my bladder leaks out. The surgeon performed a urethral injection to add bulking material to help with the incontinence but it has not really helped the situation. I am not sure what the next step should be.
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Dear Barkelsmith
Thanks so much for your question and welcome!
I'm so sorry that not only is your surgery not correcting your problem but that it has increased. It's possible that this kind of surgery was not the kind you needed, it simply failed to work (there is no guarantee with surgery), you may have needed a different kind of sling, or that the procedure was done incorrectly.
Please read this article by our Dr. Matthew Karlovsky M.D. who writes about the benefits and risks of this surgery. http://www.empowher.com/news/herarticle/2009/03/11/urethral-slings-what-...
Do you know what kind of sling was used? The one with the best (90%) success rate is the pubovaginal fascial sling but the failure rate is very low - only about 2%.
Have you gone back for a checkup? Is this when the surgeon performed a urethral injection? What has he said about this outcome?
September 28, 2009 - 12:57pmThis Comment
Dear Barkelsmith,I had the bladder sling surgery in April of this year. It also has done NO good at all. I too am worse!! Don't know what to do next. When I stand to get out of a car,my bladder completely empties and I have to go home. I don't even want to get away from home anymore.
September 29, 2010 - 3:18pmI'm so surprised to find others with this problem as myself. My situation is identical to Susan Cody's. After the sling surgery I had the Durasphere injections twice and am scheduled next week to have my sling tightened. The doctor said that my bladder is where it should be after the sling procedure, but that the upper urethra needed to be tightened up. However, I might not be able to get it done because I came down with bad yeast infection and I noticed my vagina is quite swollen at the inner and outer opening. I'm really tired of having one problem after another!
October 24, 2010 - 7:40amI am having the SAME issue! I could handle a little trickle from before, but now my bladder just empties wherever I am. I am afraid to even go into public after I have drank any sort of liquid because I don't want to have an accident. Before I could ast least hold all but a few drops, now I try to hold it, and I can't :( All I can do is stand there with my bladder as tight as I can while I wet myself like a 2 year old.
January 1, 2011 - 5:28amI just recently had the surgery 2 weeks ago and I am worse. I wake up soaking wet from urine, wearing pads, and leaking large amounts of urine. I had infection and a inflamed bladder. I have had to go back to see my surgey twice in this two weeks and return again in a couple of days. I really don't know how this problem will be fixed but I am in pain, frustrated and scared to leave my house. I get very painful spasms in my kidney area and going down to my legs. I hope they figure out what is wrong because I am regreding having this surgery.
January 11, 2011 - 10:28pmDear Anon
Thanks for your post and for finding EmpowHER!
I am so sorry that you are two weeks post-surgery and still having these issues. Make sure you inform your doctor about everything and please let us know what he says.
Best,
January 12, 2011 - 12:58pm~Susan
We found the solution by going to a urologist at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ. I found that going to a clinic/Doctor that actually works in a team environment (as opposed to a single practive) was the answer. After the second surgery I am now at least back to where I was before all of this started. I do wear a diaper at night but during the day just a pantyliner. Try a different doctor and see what their assessment fo your situation is.
January 12, 2011 - 2:05pm