Incontinence-Male Sling System

Tom58 said:

Male sling
Bob,
What I would give to go back to my pre-sling, 2-3 pads a day. I had the operation over a year ago. The doctor managed to destroy my uretha. I am now completely incontinent 15-20 pads a day.
My urethra had to be rebuilt with a piece cut from the inside of my cheek and I have constant pain. I can only tell you my experiance. If I were you I would not get the operation. period!

Bad Doctor!
Sorry about your "sling" experience. Mine was totally great. There are two kinds of slings, Invance and Advance. The Invance is the earlier application, the Advance is the newest. Both by the same medical company. Invance uses securement by internal titanium screws, the Advance uses a loop or ligament securement. Some patients incurred pain with the screws, this due to improper placement (installing the screw on a nerve).
The key is (as for any surgery), you have to be an "IDEAL" candidate. Ie, 2-3 pads per day, good cystoscopy results and no previous urological complications. Also, get a doctor who has done many of the sling procedures. AMS Medical Systems (company that makes the slings) has a list of doctors all over the US that do these procedures.

Got the Unrinary Sphincter
I am 50 yo and after almost two years of kegals and incontinence (3 to 4 full pads a day + occasional accidents), I finally had enough. I went to my urologist and asked about the sling. He indicated that the sling was for more of the slow leaker and would not be as effective for someone who leaked like I did. We then discussed the artificial sphincter. I opted for that procedure and had it done last November 2010. I love it! I can wear one pad for days if not weeks. I change everyday just because and have not yet tried to go without. I'm probably too used to wearing one at this point. My quality of life has improved 100% and I am looking forward to using it this summer during my outdoor activities. I no longer worry about being on my feet for long periods of time and no longer carry any extra pads, just in case I need to change. I no longer worry about that. When I need to relieve my bladder, I have to physically squeeze a small bulb in my scrotum which opens the cuff around my urethra, releasing the urine. It is not hard to do or uncomfortable and works great. I have on occasion, stood in front of the urinal like I did before my RP and when nothing comes out finally realize that I need to squeeze the tube. I feel almost normal again. I would tell you to consider this option if the sling isn’t for you.

AdVance XP

All the post I read ade 10 years old. Anyone have the AdVance XP sling?

Hi JW,

Sorry for the late reply, but I had some issues posting to CSN, which have now been resolved.

I've had 2 AMS800 implants, the most recent being in the fall of 2019.  My first AMS800 lasted for over 6 years, before failing.  Clearly, I would not have gone for a second implant, if I were not satisfied with the first implant.

Simply put, if you are vertically incontinent, and if it is negatively impacting you desired quality of life, then an AMS800 is absolutely a gamechanger in restoring your quality of life from a continence standpoint.  For me, my vertical incontinence limited my going out of my home for more than 3-4 hours at a time, as I would fill my Depends, and urine would start to leak out through my pants.  For example, if I was visiting at a friend's house, I could not sit down, as my leaking urine would leak onto their furniture.  For me, this incontinence situation was unacceptable from the standpoint of quality of life.

I looked at the various incontinence slings that were available on the market as well as the AMS800, and I consulted with my Urologist Surgeon.  He advised me that the results from sling implants varied considereably, with the best results representing only marginal improvements in overall incontinence.  As such, he recommended the AMS800 implant to me as being the choice for the best and most consistent positive outcome for eliminating incontinence.

I will tell you that the surgery to implant an AMS800 is not trivial, and the recovery will take a while, up to 6 months for everything to settle down and become fully routine.  That being said,  you will become ambulatory within a few days after surgery, and be able to perform basic activities as well as before the surgery.  The return to 'normal' life can be achieved within 6-8 weeks, when the AMS800 implant is activated by your surgeon.

You can read about my experiences by going to the link below, which is my personal 3-month update thread.  Scroll down to the update dated January 17, 2020, and at the end of that update, you will find links to my specific posts about my AMS800 implant experiences.

https://csn.cancer.org/node/299431

I wish you the best of outcomes in your search for incontinence solutions.

Great News

Great news, Jw!

Hopefully, you will be pleased with the results for the long term.