High revision rate following artificial urethral sphincter implantation

In severe cases of stress urinary incontinence (SUI), with sphincter dysfunction, the artificial urinary sphincter AMS 800™ may be the last solution. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcome of surgical intervention for SUI with the AMS 800 in patients who were treated at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg. The primary aim of the study was to determine the complications related to the operation.A retrospective follow-up was done by reviewing medical records. The material comprised 97 men, who underwent their first AMS 800 implantation between May 1997 and June 2010 at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.The revision rate was 28%, including an infection rate of 3% and an erosion rate of 7%. The mean follow-up for revised patients was 3 years. The median time until revision was 1 year. Seventy-five per cent of all patients were satisfied with the operation at 6 months' follow-up. Radical prostatectomy was the reason behind incontinence in 84% of patients in this series.The results clearly demonstrate a need for revision procedures in a considerable proportion of patients implanted with an AMS 800 device. Patient satisfaction was high, but although this operation has extremely low mortality it has its complications and the system will need to be replaced in time.