The Effect of an Additional Stress Incontinence Procedure on Overactive Bladder During Pelvic Organ Prolapse Repair

Study Summary

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a common condition in women. Approximately 20% of women undergo surgical correction for POP in their lifetime. Overactive bladder symptoms (OAB) are often associated with POP in 25-69% of patients and POP has been shown to be an independent risk factor for OAB. There is scientific evidence that surgical repair of POP reduces or eliminates OAB in \>85%. In addition, stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is also often associated with POP, either clinically evident or as a potential post-operative complication. The clinical decision as to include a surgical technique to treat SUI when repairing POP surgically is still a matter of controversy. Most surgeons at the institution will include an extra procedure, specifically a retropubic sling, if SUI is clinically evident. Some will not include it unless there is urodynamic or clinical evidence of potential SUI post-operatively. Finally, some will include it regardless of clinical or urodynamic findings based on the apparent high incidence of such SUI after prolapse repair. The Tension-Free-Vaginal Tape (TVT) has been observed to reduce OAB as well as produce de-novo OAB symptoms, so the effect of TVT on OAB is still unclear. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of additional TVT surgery on OAB symptoms in patients undergoing POP repair. It is hoped that such data will better determine the effect of either surgical intervention strategy on OAB symptoms. This is a prospective cohort study comparing patients with OAB that undergo surgical repair of their prolapse with or without additional TVT surgery. The outcomes will be measured using pre- and post-operative validated questionnaires (PFDI-20, OAB-q short form).