BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) occurs in 35% of women and about 30% of them will require a second surgery. This illness has negative effects on patients’ quality of life. Since TVT(Tension-free vaginal tape) bladder neck suspension is a minimally invasive procedure for curing patients with stress urinary incontinence, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of TVT bladder neck suspension on quality of life in these patients.

METHODS: This analytical study was conducted to assess the quality of life in 50 patients with stress urinary incontinence, using Kings Health Questionnaire in various fields, before TVT surgery, one month after surgery, and six month after that. This questionnaire has a 4-point grading system. Each field is graded from 0 (best) to 100 (worst). Decline in scores indicates increase in quality of life.

FINDINGS: Every field that influenced the quality of life in women with stress urinary incontinence was improved significantly, one and six month after TVT surgery compared with the situation before the surgery (p<0.05). Intensity of symptoms increased from 14.10±3.77, before the surgery to 8.16±2.35, one month and 8.26±2.3, six month after the surgery (p<0.001). After TVT surgery, 14 patients (28%) experienced fever, 5 patients (10%) experienced urinary retention, 3 patients (6%) experienced urinary infection and 1 patient (2%) experienced bleeding.

CONCLUSION: Results of the study demonstrated that TVT bladder neck suspension improves the quality of life in patients with stress urinary incontinence.