Surgical correction of female urinary stress incontinence and kit therefor

Claim 1

A kit for use in the surgical correction of female urinary stress incontinence comprising: at least one needle, said needle comprising a cannula and a trocar, said cannula being receivable of said trocar, said trocar being removably disposable within said cannula, said needle being bendable to a desired degree of curvature; and a pair of implants, each of said implants comprising a head portion and a suture portion, said head portion adapted to rest on the pubic bone, said head protion comprising a substanitally figure eight shaped member of surgical titanium having a central cross bar and said sutrue portion comprising a surgical suture acceptable, substantially non-biodegradable thread having a first end, a second end and a central portion, said central portion being wrapped about said central cross bar with said first and second ends disposed on a single side of said head portion, said first and second ends being guidingly receivable within said cannula.

Claim 23

A method for surgically correcting female urinary stress incontinence comprising the steps of (1) providing a pair of implants, each of said implants comprising a head portion and a suture portion, said head portion adapted to rest on the symphysis pubis, said suture portion comprising a surgical suture acceptable, substantially non-biodegradable thread connected to said head portion, said thread having a first end and a second end disposed on a single side of said head portion; (2) providing at least one needle, said at least one needle comprising a cannula and a trocar, said cannula being receivable of said trocar, said trocar being removably disposable within said cannula, said at least one needle being bendable to a desired degree of curvature, said first and second ends of said thread being guidingly receivable within said cannula; (3) incising only the vaginal mucosa with an incision about 1 cm in length at the urethro-vesical junction; (4) introducing said needle at the right distal extremity of said vaginal incision and non-traumatizingly guiding said needle along the symphysis pubis to a first point about 3 cm to the right of a median line at the superior border of the symphysis pubis and passing said needle through the skin at this first point; (5) incising the skin with a cutaneous incision about 0.5 cm in length at said first point; (6) removing said trocar from said needle while leaving the cannula in place; (7) introducing the first end of said thread from one of said pair of implants into said cannula until it protrudes into the vagina; (8) withdrawing said cannula through the vagina; (9) introducing said needle at the right distal extremity of said vaginal incision and non-traumatizingly guiding said needle along the symphysis pubis to said incision of step (5); (10) removing said trocar from said needle while leaving the cannula in place; (11) introducing the second end of said thread from said one of said pair of implants into said cannula until it protrudes into the vagina; (12) withdrawing said cannula through the vagina; (13) introducing said needle a the left distal extremity of said vaginal incision and non-traumatizingly guiding said needle along the symphysis pubis to a second point about 3 cm to the left of a median line at the superior border of the symphysis pubis and passing said needle through the skin at this second point; (14) incising the skin with a cutaneous incision about 0.5 cm in length at said second point; (15) removing said trocar from said needle while leaving the cannula in place; (16) introducing the first end of said thread from the other of said pair of implants into said cannula until it protrudes into the vagina; (17) withdrawing said cannula through the vagina; (18) introducing said needle at the left distal extremity of said vaginal incision and non-traumatizingly guiding said needle along the symphysis pubis to said incision of step (14); (19) removing said trocar from said needle while leaving the canula in place; (20) introducing the second end of said thread from the other of said pair of implants into said cannula until it protrudes into the vagina; (21) withdrawing said cannula through the vagina; (22) burying each of said implants under the skin over the symphysis pubis; (23) adjusting the urethro-vesical angle to a desired position; (24) tying the ends of said threads from the right side to respective ends of said threads from the left side to hold the desired urethro-vesical angle.

Claim 24

A method for surgically correcting female urinary stress incontinence comprising the steps of (1) providing a pair of implants, each of said implants comprising a head portion and a suture portion, said head portion adapted to rest on the symphysis pubis, said suture portion comprising a surgical suture acceptable, substantially non-biodegradable thread connected to said head portion, said thread having a first end and a second end disposed on a single side of said head portion; (2) providing at least one needle, said at least one needle comprising a cannula and a trocar, said cannula being receivable of said trocar, said trocar being removably disposable within said cannula, said at least one needle being bendable to a desired degree of curvature, said first and second ends of said thread being guidingly receivable within said cannula; (3) incising only the vaginal mucosa with an incision about 1 cm in length at the urethro-vesical junction; (4) introducing said needle at the right distal extremity of said vaginal incision and non-traumatizingly guiding said needle along the symphysis pubis to a first point about 3 cm to the right of a median line at the superior border of the symphysis pubis and passing said needle through the skin at this first point; (5) incising the skin with a cutaneous incision about 0.5 cm in length at said first point; (6) removing said trocar from said needle while leaving the cannula in place; (7) introducing the first end of said thread from one of said pair of implants into said cannula until it protrudes into the vagina; (8) withdrawing said cannula through the vagina; (9) introducing said needle at the right distal extremity of said vaginal incision and non-traumatizingly guiding said needle along the symphysis pubis to said incision of step (5); (10) removing said trocar from said needle while leaving the cannula in place; (11) introducing the second end of said thread from said one of said pair of implants into said cannula until it protrudes into the vagina; (12) withdrawing said cannula through the vagina; (13) introducing said needle a the left distal extremity of said vaginal incision and non-traumatizingly guiding said needle along the symphysis pubis to a second point about 3 cm to the left of a median line at the superior border of the symphysis pubis and passing said needle through the skin at this second point; (14) incising the skin with a cutaneous incision about 0.5 cm in length at said second point; (15) removing said trocar from said needle while leaving the cannula in place; (16) introducing the first end of said thread from the other of said pair of implants into said cannula until it protrudes into the vagina; (17) withdrawing said cannula through the vagina; (18) introducing said needle at the left distal extremity of said vaginal incision and non-traumatizingly guiding said needle along the symphysis pubis to said incision of step (14); (19) removing said trocar from said needle while leaving the canula in place; (20) introducing the second end of said thread from the other of said pair of implants into said cannula until it protrudes into the vagina; (21) withdrawing said cannula through the vagina; (22) burying each of said implants under the skin over the symphysis pubis; (23) adjusting the urethro-vesical angle to a desired position; (24) tying the ends of said threads from the right side to respective ends of said threads from the left side to hold the desired urethro-vesical angle.