OBJECTIVES: Our purpose was to determine the efficacy and safety of the Mersilene (Ethicon, Inc., Somerville, N.J.) mesh sling.

STUDY DESIGN: A total of 110 women diagnosed at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center with recurrent genuine stress incontinence, low-pressure urethra, or chronically increased intraabdominal pressure underwent a Mersilene mesh sling procedure. The women were followed up with yearly clinical and 1-year urodynamic evaluations. Sixty-seven patients had both preoperative and postoperative complete urodynamic evaluations. Paired t test was used except where stated.

RESULTS: Seventy-nine of 83 patients (95%) who were examined at a mean of 15 months reported complete stress continence. Objective cure rate (n = 72) by 1-year postoperative stress test was 93%. The pressure transmission ratio increased from 75% to 112% (p < 0.0001). The mean number of days to normal voiding was 10. Three women have long-term difficulty with retention. Erosion of the vaginal sling site occurred in two women, one of whom required removal (0.9%).

CONCLUSIONS: The suburethral sling with Mersilene mesh is a safe, effective treatment for specific types of genuine stress incontinence on the basis of yearly clinical and 1-year urodynamic follow-up, and it demonstrates a low rejection rate.