UP-047 adult elective · inpatient
Urethra, continence and functional urology

Non-mesh surgery for female stress urinary incontinence

A comparison hub for colposuspension and autologous fascial sling procedures, preserving their different abdominal, harvest-site and voiding risks.

advanced 3 recorded variations 6 complication modules Also: Burch colposuspension · autologous fascial sling · rectus fascial sling
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Teaching catalogue only. This coverage record is not a patient pathway or operative instruction.

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01 Scope and comparison

Typical place in practice

Stress urinary incontinence when a non-mesh operation is preferred and the patient is suitable for the selected reconstructive approach.

Alternatives and neighbouring procedures

Conservative care, pessary, urethral bulking, mid-urethral sling where appropriate, or continued observation.

02 Recorded variations

Same procedure family, explicit technique branches

These are variations of this canonical operation. Complication modules below identify whether they apply to all branches or only to named approaches.

01 · Retropubic open suspension

Open Burch colposuspension

Suspends peri-urethral vaginal tissue to retropubic support structures.

02 · Minimally invasive retropubic suspension

Laparoscopic or robotic colposuspension

Recreates the suspension through an abdominal minimally invasive approach.

03 · Abdominal fascial harvest and bladder-neck sling

Autologous fascial sling

Uses the patient’s own fascia to support the urethra or bladder neck.

03 Orientation sequence

High-level sequence

Coverage outline only; not a step-by-step technical guide.

  1. Confirm stress mechanism and assess prolapse and voiding
  2. Expose the retropubic space or harvest fascia
  3. Protect bladder, urethra and ureters
  4. Place suspension sutures or the fascial sling without excessive obstruction
  5. Close and monitor voiding, wound recovery and continence
04 Procedure-specific complications

Every failure mode is its own module.

Timing and variation coverage are recorded for each module.

Open in complication index
C01
intraoperative injury

Bladder or ureteric injury

Retropubic dissection or suture placement can injure the urinary tract or distort a ureteric orifice.

Applies to: All variants
C02
early bleeding

Bleeding or haematoma

Retropubic vascular injury or fascial harvest can cause concealed bleeding.

Applies to: All variants
C03
multiple functional

Voiding dysfunction or retention

Excess support or impaired detrusor function can prevent complete emptying.

Applies to: All variants
C04
late functional

Persistent or recurrent incontinence

Failure can reflect support, tissue, bladder or diagnostic factors.

Applies to: All variants
C05
late functional

Pelvic organ prolapse or de novo urgency

Change in vaginal axis and outlet function may be followed by prolapse or urgency symptoms.

Applies to: Open Burch colposuspension · Laparoscopic or robotic colposuspension
C06
multiple wound recovery

Harvest-site pain, hernia or wound morbidity

Fascial harvest creates an additional abdominal wound with specific recovery risks.

Applies to: Autologous fascial sling
05 Evidence map

Sources for this module

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in women: management

UK governance and shared-decision requirements for female continence surgery.

Accessed 2026-08-03 · opens source European Association of Urology EAU Guidelines on Non-neurogenic Female LUTS

Female continence, bulking, sling, colposuspension and related procedures.

Accessed 2026-08-03 · opens source British Association of Urological Surgeons Patient information leaflets by procedure

UK patient-facing procedure, alternatives, recovery and complication framing.

Accessed 2026-08-03 · opens source