For most people, nonsurgical treatments like exercise, medicine and behavior changes can reduce the symptoms of SUI, but not actually cure it. Surgical treatments are much more likely to resolve the problem.

The right choice of treatment will depend largely upon the underlying cause of the problem and how extensive it is. After examining you, your doctor will be able to discuss the options with you and recommend the one that may be most effective.

Exercising the muscles of your pelvic floor routinely can help prevent stress urinary incontinence, as well as other types of bladder problems. These exercises are called Kegels, and involve squeezing the muscles in your pelvic floor as if you were trying to stop urinating.

Complication risks depend on the severity, type and cause of your stress urinary incontinence as well as the type of procedure performed and graft material used. For example, synthetic mesh may erode requiring another surgery to correct. The Biodesign Vaginal Erosion Repair Graft is specifically designed to resolve this type of material failure and is not prone to erosion.

Biodesign communicates with your body, signaling surrounding tissue to grow across the graft. This action supports your body’s own healing process by attracting cells and nutrients to the wounded area and allowing your tissue to restore itself. It also allows your body’s immune system to protect the graft from potential infection.

Yes. Over time, Biodesign remodels to become as strong as your own natural tissue.

Biodesign completely remodels into strong tissue. Once the healing process is finished, the graft is completely remodeled into your own tissue, leaving a permanent repair without a permanent material.

There are three main categories of tissue repair materials: Biodesign, synthetic mesh and biologic grafts.

Biodesign Biodesign Advanced Tissue Repair Products are a whole new category in tissue repair, combining the best attributes of synthetic mesh and biologic grafts. Biodesign is a natural material that communicates with the surrounding tissue to help your body restore itself, completely remodeling into functional tissue. The remodeling process also increases the graft’s resistance to infection. And, because Biodesign is not prone to stretching and your own tissue quickly replaces it, a Biodesign repair provides long-term strength, reducing the potential for the condition to recur. Biodesign is available in a variety of shapes and sizes designed to treat various conditions.

Synthetic Mesh These are sheets of man-made materials (polypropylene, polyester, silicone or polytetrafluoroethylene) that permanently remain in your body. While they offer strength for a repair, they may cause problems. For example:

• You might be able to feel the mesh, causing discomfort.
• Synthetic mesh can erode into surrounding tissue or organs, resulting in pain and tissue damage.
• Your body might respond to synthetic mesh as a foreign material and surround it with scar tissue.

Biologic Grafts Derived from human or animal tissue, biologic grafts typically allow cells to grow into the graft and replace it, a process called remodeling. Some biologic grafts are made from skin tissue, which makes them prone to stretching and bulging. Other biologic grafts are chemically cross-linked to strengthen the material. However, when these grafts are implanted, your body may respond to them as if they were a synthetic mesh.

Several steps in the manufacturing of Biodesign ensure its safety as a graft. All Biodesign products are made of porcine material that undergoes thorough cleaning and disinfection using controlled medical device manufacturing procedures. Biodesign is provided as a sterile medical product.

Any surgery has potential for complications. Talk to your surgeon for more information. The following complications are possible with the use of Biodesign surgical mesh: bleeding, infection, abscess, induration, acute or chronic inflammation (initial application of surgical graft materials may be associated with transient, mild, localized inflammation), allergic reaction, visceral adhesions, fistula formation, seroma formation, hematoma, extrusion, recurrence of tissue defect, and delayed or failed incorporation of the device. See Instructions for Use for specific complications related to a particular product.

Originally developed for wound care in the late 1990s, Biodesign has evolved to its present design and now is used in multiple areas of the body. Biodesign has been used in more than one million patients.

Biodesign is approved for sale in 91 countries. Your surgeon should know if it is available in the hospital where he or she practices.