ABSTRACT

Aim:

To verify if bladder neck position, genital hiatus area and puborectalis muscle thickness change during pelvic floor and transverse abdominal muscles’ maximal voluntary contractions, compared to rest position.

Methods:

A clinical, transversal and controlled study was carried out with 31 women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) symptoms, scored through the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Urinary Incontinence - Short Form (ICIQ UI-SF). The participants were evaluated by GE Voluson 730 Expert® transperineal ultrasound. The ultrasound images were collected first at rest, then during pelvic floor muscles’ (PFM) maximal voluntary contraction and finally during transverse abdominal muscle’s (TAM) maximal voluntary contraction. Three biometric parameters were analyzed in each situation: bladder neck position, genital hiatus area and puborectal muscle thickness. The statistical analyses were performed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov, ANOVA for repeated measures and Tukey-Kramer tests, adopting a significance level of 5%.

Results:

All biometric parameter measurements significantly changed during PFM maximal voluntary contraction compared to rest position (p<0.05). During TAM maximal voluntary contraction, only the puborectalis muscle thickness measurement showed a significant statistical difference compared to rest position (p<0.05).

Conclusion:

PFM maximal voluntary contraction significantly changed all analyzed ultrasound biometric parameters’ measurements compared to rest position. In contrast, during TAM maximal voluntary contraction only the puborectalis muscle thickness significantly increased compared to rest position, without presenting any significant effects on either bladder neck position or genital hiatus area measurements.