Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI)

Stress urinary incontinence, or SUI, is urine leakage caused by physical pressure on the bladder. It happens when the muscles and tissues that support the bladder and urethra weaken, often after childbirth, with aging, or after certain surgeries. Coughing, sneezing, laughing, jumping, or lifting can push urine out. It is different from urge incontinence, which involves a sudden strong need to urinate.

Treatments range from pelvic floor exercises and bladder training to devices and surgery. The FDA explains that a surgical mesh "sling" is permanently implanted to support the urethra or bladder neck to correct SUI, and that mesh slings offer a less invasive approach than non-mesh repairs, which require a larger abdominal incision. Slings can also be made from the patient's own tissue or donor tissue.

SUI is central to the transvaginal mesh litigation. Many women who received mesh slings for SUI later reported mesh erosion, chronic pelvic pain, pain during intercourse, and recurring urinary problems, and sued the manufacturers. Mesh for SUI remains on the market; the FDA's 2019 order to stop selling applied to mesh for transvaginal repair of pelvic organ prolapse.

If you had a sling and have complications, your operative report will show the product and manufacturer, which is the first thing an attorney will ask for. See our guide to multidistrict litigation and our hernia mesh lawsuit page for a related mesh case.