Hysterectomy and prior incontinence surgery as risk factors for failed retropubic cystourethropexy.

The effects of prior hysterectomy and incontinence surgery were evaluated retrospectively in 86 women undergoing modified Burch cystourethropexy. These women were evaluated before and three months after surgery with multichannel urodynamic testing. Forty percent of the 50 women with prior incontinence surgery remained incontinent after the cystourethropexy even though 94% of them had undergone anatomic correction. This result was not statistically different from the 28% failure rate in patients without prior incontinence surgery. Forty-two percent of the 62 women who had previously undergone hysterectomy failed cystourethropexy despite anatomic correction in 95%. This finding was significantly different from the 17% failure rate in women without prior hysterectomy (P less than .025). This retrospective analysis suggests that prior hysterectomy may place women at increased risk of continued incontinence following cystourethropexy despite anatomic correction of urethrovesical junction descent. Contrary to the results of other investigators, women with prior incontinence surgery in this study were not found to be at significantly greater risk of incontinence after cystourethropexy.