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This study was a 1-year follow-up of a cohort of 52 women who underwent trans-obturator tape (TOT) procedures using Obtape. Follow-up information was available for 45/52 (87%) women. The rate of erosions was 8/52 (15%). Among 34 women examined, 26% experienced tenderness on palpation of operative site, and 72% were objectively cured on pad test. Forty women completed questionnaires (median Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7, 0; median Urogenital Distress Inventory-6, 17) and of those, 93% would recommend TOT to a friend. We found a high rate of erosions among our cohort. Our high rate of erosions may be a result of our review of the majority of the cohort, and it is likely related to the specific device used (Obtape). The majority of women were satisfied with the outcome. Before introducing new procedures into widespread clinical practice, it is important to rigorously investigate their outcomes.

Possible reasons for the complications include 1) surgical inexperience (unlikely, given that we have undertaken more than 2000 tension-free vaginal tape procedures without similar complication rates); 2) inherent susceptibility of the "hammock" position of the transobturator tape; or 3) the nonwoven polypropylene tape with mesh size of 50 microm itself may predispose to erosion or abscess.

Background: Premature labor is a poorly understood condition. Estrogen is thought to play a key role and therefore the labor process may be affected by endocrine disruptors. We sought to determine whether or not an environmental toxicant, DDE, or dietary derived endocrine disruptors, daidzein and genistein, are associated with spontaneous preterm labor.

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