TVT stands for Tension-free Vaginal Tape which is made of prolene. It has become the new "gold standard" operation for treating women with stress urinary incontinence. The result at 5 years is 85% cure, 10% improved and 5% failure. It was introduced in Sweden in 1995. The first operation in Singapore was performed at our hospital in November 1998. A newer version of the procedure, TVT-O (tension-free vaginal tape-obturator) was introduced in May 2004 in our hospital. It is equally good in curing stress urinary incontinence.
Both the TVT & TVT-O continence surgery takes between 10 to 15 minutes to perform. It can be done under regional or general anaesthesia. It can be done as a day surgery so that you may go home on the same day. The post-operative pain and the risks of surgery are less as compared to Burch Colposuspension - another well-established continence surgery. As with any continence surgery, it is advisable for a patient who has not completed her family to do so before having the TVT/TVT-O surgery so as to reduce the risk of failure.
The TVT / TVT-O continence surgery is generally a safe procedure. However, like all surgeries, complications may occur occasionally. These include:
As with other continence surgeries, there are certain bladder specific complications which may arise from TVT surgery:
