The objective of this study was to compare porcine dermal sling (Pelvicol implant, Bard) with tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) in the surgical treatment of stress incontinence. One hundred and forty-two women with genuine stress incontinence (GSI) were randomly assigned to either Pelvicol implant pubovaginal sling (n=74) or TVT (n=68). They were followed up at a minimum of 6 months (range 6-24 months), with a median follow-up of 12 months. The majority (n=109) of procedures were carried out in a day surgery unit. The median operation time was 35 minutes (range 15-60) in the TVT group and 30 minutes (range 20-80) in the Pelvicol implant group; 81% of the TVT group and 77% of the Pelvicol implant group were able to void urine within 24 hours, and had insignificant residual bladder volumes. The prevalence of postoperative symptomatic voiding dysfunction was 3.4% after TVT and 1.4% after Pelvicol implant. Nine percent of the TVT group developed de novo urge incontinence and 6% of the Pelvicol implant group had de novo urge incontinence 6 months after the procedure. Postoperative evaluation was done at the outpatient department, and a postal questionnaire was also completed to determine subjective continence status. The patient-determined cure rate was 85% in the TVT group and 89% in the Pelvicol implant group. The Pelvicol implant sling had a comparable patient- determined success rate with TVT and should be considered in the surgical treatment of women with genuine stress incontinence.

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Interest in laser therapy as a nonhormonal option for the treatment of genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) has increased. We conducted a systematic review of the use of laser therapy for the relief of GSM symptoms. Six electronic databases were searched and conference abstracts were searched manually from the introduction of laser therapy to the present date. The keywords used were: "genitourinary syndrome", "vulvovaginal atrophy", "postmenopausal symptoms", "laser therapy" and "fractional laser treatment". Of the 165 articles identified in the search, none was a randomized controlled trial. As a result, we included three observational studies without a control group and one case-control study that met our inclusion criteria. The total number of women included in the four studies was 220. The collated data suggest that laser therapy may be valuable as a nonhormonal therapeutic modality in the management of GSM. Higher quality of evidence from randomized controlled trials is required to establish the efficacy of laser treatment in the management of GSM.

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After completion of this article, the reader should be able to explain that the urethral pain syndrome (UPS) has specific signs and symptoms without specific responses to a variety of treatment options and recall that treatment may require a multidisciplinary approach and a lot of sensitivity by the physician.