To assess the evolution of the number and incidence of surgical treatments for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and of mid-urethral slings (MUS) removals and sections in France between 2015 and 2024.
We conducted a nationwide, population-based, repeated cross-sectional study using administrative data from the open French national discharge summary database (openCCAM) and population data from the National Institute of Statistics (INSEE). Surgical procedures for SUI performed between 2015 and 2024 were identified and categorized as: synthetic MUS, infra-urethral myoplasty or plication, indirect cervicocystopexy, autologous sling, artificial urinary sphincter (AUS), and bulking agents. Revision surgeries of slings (complete and partial removals, and section) were also extracted. Outcomes were expressed as annual counts and incidence rates.
Between 2015 and 2024, the annual number of SUI surgeries in France decreased by 48.7% (41,390 to 21,213 procedures). MUS-O procedures declined by 68.7% while MUS-RP procedures initially decreased but subsequently increased to 7.6% above 2015 levels. The overall volume of MUS dropped by 56.6%, and the proportion of sling-based procedures decreased from 94.5% to 82.7%. The use of bulking agents rose by 359.9%. The number of autologous slings and of indirect cervicocystopexies decreased by 37.1%, and 64.2%, respectively. MUS removals declined by 11.7%.
The annual number of SUI surgeries in France has been halved over the past decade, primarily due to a significant reduction in MUS-O use, a modest increase in MUS-RP use, and the rapid adoption of bulking agents.
The French journal of urology. 2026 Mar 18 [Epub ahead of print]
Dequirez Pierre-Luc, Biardeau Xavier, Seguier Denis, Demeesteere Amélie, Lallemant Marine
Department of Urology, CHU de Lille, Lille, France; Univ. Lille, Inserm UMR-S1172 LilNCog, Lille Neuroscience and Cognition, F-59000 Lille, France. Electronic address: ., Department of Urology, CHU de Lille, Lille, France; Univ. Lille, Inserm UMR-S1172 LilNCog, Lille Neuroscience and Cognition, F-59000 Lille, France., Department of Urology, CHU de Lille, Lille, France; University Lille, CNRS, INSERM, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, UMR9020-U1277-CANTHER-Cancer Heterogeneity Plasticity and Resistance to Therapies, F-59000, Lille, France., Department of Urology, CHU de Lille, Lille, France., Department of Gynecology, CHU de Lille, Lille, France.