Effectiveness and Safety Profile of Urethral Bulking with Bulkamid® for Stress Urinary Incontinence: A French Multi-Center Cohort Study.

Various treatment options are currently available for the management of stress urinary incontinence (SUI). This study was aimed at determining the effectiveness and safety profile of Bulkamid®, and identify predictive factors of clinical success.

This retrospective study conducted in two French urogynecology university centers between September 2019 and December 2023 included all patients with urinary incontinence who received Bulkamid®.

Among the 320 patients included (median age 58.2 years), the median follow-up was 24 months. Urethral hypermobility was found in 93.4% of patients (n = 282) and 92% (n = 275) had a positive cough test. At 1 month, 68.7% of patients (n = 220) achieved clinical success, 25.6% (n = 82) improved, and 5.6% (n = 18) reported failure. At last follow-up, 63.7% of patients (n = 204) were still cured, 21.9% (n = 70) had improved, and 14.4% (n = 46) reported failure. Among the 16 patients with overactive bladder (OAB) 43.7% had a Patient Global Improvement (PGI) score of 1-2 at 1 month and 50.0% at last follow-up, with significant difference compared with patients without OAB, 81.0% had a PGI score of 1-2 at 1 month and 74.8% at last follow-up (p = 0.0006 and p = 0.04 respectively). Regarding complications, acute urinary retention occurred in 3.1% of patients (n = 10), urinary infections in 2.2% (n = 7), and transient hematuria in 7.2% (n = 23). In multivariate analysis, follow-up time was significantly associated with failure compared with improvement/cure (OR = 1.05, 95% CI 1.02-1.08, p = 0.0002).

The present large series of patients reported the effectiveness of Bulkamid® injection, a minimally invasive procedure providing good clinical outcomes at 2 years' follow-up.

International urogynecology journal. 2024 Dec 10 [Epub ahead of print]

Gery Lamblin, Solene Boix, Stéphanie Moret, Erdogan Nohuz, Gautier Chene, David Hamid

Gynecology Surgery Department, Hôpital Femme Mère Enfant, Bron, France. ., Gynecology Surgery Department, Hôpital Femme Mère Enfant, Bron, France., Clinique Sainte Barbe, Groupe Hospitalier Saint Vincent, Strasbourg, France.