Objectives: To compare the long-term risk of repeat stress urinary incontinence (SUI) surgery after different types of initial SUI surgery and to identify predictors of time to repeat SUI surgery in a large, population-based cohort.
Methods: We used de-identified, adjudicated health care claims data from approximately 100 employer-based plans across the United States from 2000 to 2009. We identified the index SUI surgery in women aged 18 to 64 years. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to estimate cumulative incidence of repeat surgery through 9 years. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for factors associated with recurrent SUI surgery.
Results: Over 10 years, we identified 155,458 eligible women who underwent one or more SUI surgeries, with a total of 294,855 person-years of follow-up. Of these index surgeries, 127,848 (82.2%) were slings. The 9-year cumulative incidence of repeat surgery after any SUI surgery was 14.5% (95% CI 13.4-15.5). As expected, bulking agents had the highest cumulative incidence of repeat surgery (61.2%, 95% CI 56.3-66.0) followed by needle suspension (22.2%, 95% CI 16.5-27.9); the lowest 9-year incidences were for Burch (10.8%, 95% CI 9.3-12.3) and sling (13.0%, 95% CI 11.7-14.3). In a Cox proportional hazards model that adjusted for age, year of index surgery, and region of the United States, the rate of repeat surgery was 28% higher for slings compared with Burch (adjusted HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.19-1.37).
Conclusion: In this population-based analysis of women aged 18 to 64 years, Burch procedures had the lowest 9-year cumulative incidence of repeat SUI surgery.