Objective: To determine the functional outcomes of adjustable continence therapy (ACT™) balloons in elderly women suffering from stress urinary incontinence (SUI) caused by intrinsic sphincter deficiency (ISD).
Material and methods: A monocentric retrospective study included all non-neurological women aged >80 years who suffered from SUI due to ISD and undergoing ACT™ balloon placement between 2000 and 2013. Early post-operative complications were reported according to the Clavien-Dindo classification. Continence was assessed subjectively by the patients.
Results: A total of 52 female patients were included, median age 83 years (IQR 81-85). Among them, 35 (67.3 %) had already undergone previous surgery for SUI. Balloon implantations were achieved under local anaesthesia for 33 (63.5 %) patients. Clavien grade I-II early post-operative complications occurred in five (9.6 %) patients. Median follow-up was 10.5 months (IQR 3-24.25). Eleven patients (21.1 %) were lost to follow-up. At last follow-up, seven patients (13.5 %) declared themselves fully continent after the first implantation, 13 patients (25 %) had an >80 % improvement rate (10 patients after first implantation, two after second implantation and one after third implantation). Four patients (7.7 %) found the procedure unsuccessful even after several consecutive implantations. Ten patients (19.2 %) reported a partial result and were still having successive balloon inflations. Explantation occurred in 22 patients, caused by infection, erosion or balloon migration. In intention-to-treat analysis, the failure rate was 42.3 %.
Conclusion: Although the success rate of ACT™ balloons in women aged >80 years is lower than that reported for younger women, it remains satisfactory because these patients would not otherwise have benefited from another surgical treatment.
Keywords: Adjustable; Elderly; Sphincter deficiency; Stress; Urinary incontinence.