Pelvic floor ultrasound evaluation in the diagnosis of exposure of synthetic implanted materials in the lower urinary tract

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of pelvic floor ultrasound (PFUS) to recognize prosthetics exposure in the bladder and/or urethra in women with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS).

Methods: A cross-sectional study evaluating patients with LUTS after mesh/sling surgery. PFUS was performed with both transvaginal (TVUS) and translabial (TLUS) approaches. A distance of 1 mm or less from the bladder and/or urethra was considered highly suspect for mesh exposure. After PFUS, patients underwent diagnostic urethrocystoscopy.

Results: A total of 100 consecutive women were analyzed. According to urethrocystoscopy, the rate of tape exposure in the lower urinary tract was 3%. PFUS showed 100% sensitivity and 98%-100% specificity in detecting lower urinary tract mesh exposure. The negative predictive value was 100% and the positive predictive value ranged from 33% to 50% for urethral and 100% for bladder exposure.

Conclusions: PFUS represents an effective and reliable non-invasive screening test to exclude prosthetics exposure in the bladder and/or urethra in women with LUTS.