Tension-free Vaginal Tape (TVT)
Transcription
Tension-free Vaginal Tape (TVT)
Tension-free Vaginal Tape (TVT) What is a Tension free vaginal tape? Tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) is used to treat stress urinary incontinence symptoms. A narrow ribbon of mesh (polypropylene) is placed underneath the urethra. It acts as a layer of support so that the urethra is closed off when there is laughing, coughing, sneezing or exercising. The mesh is passed behind the pubic bone and exits on the lower abdomen through two small (1/2-inch) incisions on your lower abdomen below the bikini line. When is this surgery used? It is used to treat stress incontinence, which is a loss of urine with coughing, sneezing, laughing or exercise. This surgery is NOT intended to relieve urge incontinence, which is a loss of urine when you have the sudden urge to void. How do I prepare for surgery? Make sure you have made arrangements for your care and recovery after the surgery. Allow enough time for rest. You may need someone to help with your day-to-day activities (family, friend, home health aid). Your expected recovery time is 2-3 weeks. If you have any medical problems, you will probably need a check-up to make sure you are in good shape for your operation. We may ask you to see your primary doctor, specialist and/or an anesthesiologist depending on your medical problems. We want to make sure that you are approved for surgery. You will have all the necessary lab work that is ordered by your doctor done at least 3 days before surgery. Some medications need to be stopped for some time before the surgery. You should have received a list of these medications during your visit. Smoking can affect your recovery. Smokers heal more slowly after surgery and may have difficulty breathing during the surgery. If you are a smoker, it is best to quit 6-8 weeks before surgery. We can arrange for you to start a smoking cessation program if you are interested. Your doctor can order a nicotine patch while you are an inpatient. A pre-operative appointment will be scheduled for you. This will be scheduled either with your doctor at their office or at Domino Farms with a nurse practitioner or physician assistant. Before your surgery you will be asked to shower. Instructions will be provided at your preoperative appointment. Do not shave, wax or electrolysis the pubic area for 3-5 days before surgery. This decreases your risk of skin infection. Do not put on makeup, nail polish, lotion, deodorant, or antiperspirant on the morning of your surgery. Please remove all body piercing and acrylic nails. Bring a copy of your living will or an advance directive with you to the hospital on the day of your surgery. Department of Urology Tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) -1- What can I expect during the surgery? Once in the operating room, you will be given either a spinal and/or general anesthesia before the surgery to keep you from feeling pain. The choice of anesthesia is a decision that will be made by anesthesia based upon your history and your wishes. Compression devices will be placed around your calves. These are to prevent a blood clot in the legs and the lungs during the surgery. These devices will stay on until you are actively walking. If you are at a high risk for blood clots, a blood thinning medication may be given to you. During the surgery, a tube (urinary catheter) will be inserted into your bladder to monitor the amount of urine coming out. The inside of the bladder is examined with a camera to be certain that there were no bladder injuries during placement of the sling. The urinary catheter will be removed shortly after your surgery in most cases. What are possible risks from this surgery? As you may know, there can be complications that result from surgery. We work very hard to make sure that your surgery is as safe as possible. Potential risks include bleeding, injury to the bladder, bowel, or damage to the tubes that drain the kidney into the bladder (ureters); infection, failure to cure the incontinence, development of urge/urgency incontinence, inability to urinate without a urinary catheter, erosion of the mesh into the vagina, the tubes that drain the kidney into the bladder, or bladder; blood clot near the bladder, blood clot in the legs or the lungs. An uncommon but possible complication is bleeding into the space between the bladder and the pubic bone. This results in a blood clot and it occurs in <1% of cases. This will most often resolve without further intervention. In rare cases, a blood transfusion is required. Even more rare, sometimes additional surgery is needed to stop the bleeding. If the blood clot becomes infected, you may need antibiotics. If there is damage to the bladder, the tube in the bladder will remain in place at least overnight to drain the bladder. Your doctor will need to discuss with you when it is safe to remove the catheter. It is usually not necessary to keep the catheter in longer than 7 days. Damage to the bowel or damage to the tubes that drain the kidney into the bladder is extremely rare. If you are not improving after surgery (nausea, vomiting, increasing abdominal or back pain); we will need to see you and evaluate for these extremely rare injuries. If there is an infection, you will be placed on antibiotics. 10-20% of patients are unable to empty the bladder after surgery. This condition will resolve within a few days in the majority of patients. 1-2% will have persistent problems requiring an additional surgery. Erosion of mesh occurs in 1-2% of patients. The most common site of erosion is into the vagina. Estrogen cream will often help the vaginal tissue to heal over the mesh. Surgery to remove the eroded mesh is sometimes necessary. Erosion into the urethra or the bladder is very uncommon but does require removal of the mesh. Department of Urology Tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) -2- If you develop a blood clot in the legs or lungs, you will be placed on blood thinning medication for several months. It is always difficult to talk about death as a possible consequence of surgery. We all do things in our daily lives which have some small degree of risk, which we weigh against their benefit (for example, driving a car home from the hospital has a small but real chance of death from an automobile accident and does not prevent us from driving home). Surgery has become tremendously safe in the modern era because of improvements in surgery, anesthesia and antibiotic therapy. There is, however, a small but real chance of death from any operation. Be assured that we take your surgery seriously and wish to make it as safe as possible. It is important, however, for you and your family to consider these risks. The likelihood of dying from this kind of surgery is quite rare (probably less than 1 in 1,000) but will vary depending upon your medical problems. By signing the surgical consent permit, you are acknowledging that you have honestly considered this issue and that you feel that the problem has been bothersome enough for you that you wish to have the surgery performed. As we mentioned before, please know that we will do everything that we can to minimize the chances of death or serious injury and will make this a safe and positive experience for you and your family What happens after the surgery? You will be taken to the recovery room and monitored for a short time before going home. You will be given an IV or oral medications for pain. Medications for nausea will be available. You will probably still have the tube (urinary catheter) in your bladder. This tube will be removed in the recovery room. Or, if you are staying overnight because of additional surgery, the tube will be removed the next morning. Around the time of its removal, you will have a voiding trial in which your ability to empty your bladder is assessed with a small ultrasound. If you are unable to empty your bladder before discharge to home, you may be taught how to selfcatheterize, or you will be taught how to empty the indwelling catheter. Self-catheterization involves placing a catheter into your urethra to allow your bladder to empty. You will be given light refreshments. Your routine medications will likely be restarted. You may have some vaginal spotting of bright red, brown, or black discharge. You will be given a small plastic device to help your breathing after your surgery to help expand your lungs while you’re in bed. We encourage you to walk as soon as tolerated after the surgery to aid in your healing and recovery. What problems should I pay attention to after surgery once I’m at home? Call your doctor right away if: If you start to bleed like a menstrual period or are changing a pad every hour Develop a fever over 100.5°F (38°C) Have severe pain in your abdomen or pelvis and the pain medication is not helping Have heavy vaginal discharge with a bad odor Persistent nausea and vomiting or if you are unable to hold any food or liquid down Department of Urology Tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) -3- Chest pain or difficulty breathing Leaking of fluid or blood or opening of the incision If you develop swelling, redness, or pain in your legs If you develop a rash Pain with urination Do I have any limitations after my surgery? Activities: Once you have settled into a more normal routine at home, you will find that things slowly and gradually improve. Being up and around the house and taking walks outside can help you to get back into shape gradually. It is important not to overdo things but, on the other hand, it also is appropriate to be active in order to get back into shape more quickly. Energy level: It is normal to have a decreased energy level after surgery. During the first week at home, you should minimize any strenuous activity. Over the course of the next four weeks, your body will gradually heal, and your energy level will slowly rise. Walking: Normal physical activity is expected within hours of your surgery. Start with short walks and gradually increase the distance and length of time that you walk. Climbing: Climbing stairs is permitted, but you may require some assistance initially. Lifting: For 6 weeks after your surgery you should not lift anything greater than 10 pounds (such as a gallon of milk), push heavy vacuum cleaners, or lift heavy laundry baskets or exercise. Heavy objects increase the pressure in the abdomen and push downward on the pelvic floor which can decrease the sling effectiveness. Showers: Showers and bathing are allowed 24 hours after your surgery. If you take a bath, you should not soak in this more than 10 minutes because the skin becomes soft and then damaged from prolonged soaking. You may resume regular bath routine 3 weeks after surgery. Exercise: Exercising is important for a healthy lifestyle. Certain exercises, however, would put the repair at a greater risk than others would. Exercises that involve impact such as running, impact aerobics, jumping jacks or jumping rope all put tremendous force on the pelvic floor. For this reason, these exercises should be avoided until your post operative appointment. Bicycle riding and swimming are ideal because they avoid unnecessary force on the pelvic floor. However, please talk to your doctor regarding when you can start after your surgery. Driving: Do not drive if you are taking narcotic pain medications. The main reason patients are asked to avoid or limit driving is related to pain following surgery. You will be prescribed a strong narcotic (examples: Norco, Percocet, Vicodin) to Department of Urology Tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) -4- help with the initial pain. These narcotics can be mind altering, making it unsafe to drive while taking these medications. Even after finishing the narcotics, it is possible that because of continued discomfort you will not be able to make sudden movements while driving. Urination: Your urine stream will be slower after surgery. About 1-2 % of women will experience incomplete bladder emptying longer then a few weeks after surgery. Notify your surgeon if you are unable to urinate at all or feel you still have a significant amount of urine that is unable to empty. This sometimes requires additional surgery to either loosen or remove the mesh material. Intercourse: Avoid sexual activity until your follow-up visit with your doctor. At the follow-up visit, the doctor will perform a pelvic exam and can make recommendations regarding when it is appropriate for you to resume sexual activity. Work: Most patients will be able to return to work within 3 weeks after surgery. Some patients may have residual fatigue for a couple of weeks. Wound care After the surgery, you will have incisions in 2 places: your lower abdomen below the bikini line and another incision in your vagina. For the abdominal area, there will be a dressing over 2 small incisions which might be secured with small pieces of white tape called “steri-strips.” The abdominal dressings might become soaked and need to be replaced. If this happens repeatedly, please notify your surgeon. Some bleeding after the surgery is normal. Your vaginal incision will be closed with dissolvable suture. It is common to need to wear a protective pad for this spotting, but if you start to pass large clots of blood per vagina similar to menstrual bleeding or are changing a pad every hour, please notify your surgeon. Some spotting and vaginal discharge for up to six to eight weeks is normal following your surgery. This discharge will then change to a brownish color followed by yellow cream color that will continue for up to four to six weeks. It is common for the brownish discharge to have a strong odor because this is old blood. Diet Resume your regular diet as prior to surgery. Medications Resume all of your regularly scheduled home medications as prior, unless otherwise specified. If you normally use a vaginal estrogen cream, discuss with your surgeon when you should resume this. Pain: A pain medication will be prescribed for you after surgery. Do not take more frequently than indicated on the instructions. Department of Urology Tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) -5- Stool softener: A stool softener may be needed while taking prescription pain medications. Follow-up Before you leave the hospital you should have a post-operative appointment made with your doctor between 4-6 weeks after surgery. If you have any further questions or concerns regarding preparation for surgery, the surgery itself, or postoperative expectations, please address them with your doctor. Contact information If you develop any signs of urinary tract infection such as fever greater than 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, chills, persistent burning with urination, or persistent blood in the urine, please contact the University Of Michigan, Department Of Urology at 734-936-7030 during working hours (8:00 am– 5:00pm). Or, you have concerns, questions or a change in symptoms that need to be addressed after business hours or on weekends, please call 734-936-6267 and ask to speak with the Urology Resident on-call. If you need to be evaluated by a physician on an emergent basis, please go to the nearest ER and have the ER physician contact the University of Michigan for assistance. Disclaimer: This document is for informational purposes only and is not intended to take the place of the care and attention of your personal physician or other professional medical services. Talk with your doctor if you have questions about individual health concerns or specific treatment options. ©2012 The Regents of the University of Michigan Last Revised: August 2013 Department of Urology Tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) -6-