Study design, materials and methods
A prospective study was conducted in a tertiary urogynecology center which included women with urinary incontinence who referred for pelvic floor training program. All women presented with urinary incontinence with or without pelvic organ prolapse underwent a medical consultation by gynecologist using a standard consultation form. Levator ani muscle was assessed by 3D/4D transperineal USG. They completed a validated Urinary distress inventory short form (UDI-6) and Incontinence impact questionnaire questionnaires (IIQ-7) in Chinese1 by herself in the first and last session of pelvic floor training program. The program was led by specialized continent advisor which consisted of a teaching session on life style, drinking and voiding habit and pelvic floor exercise with bladder retraining, followed by 2-3 sessions of individual tutorial on pelvic floor training. Urodynamic study was arranged for them which were investigated using Laborie Urodynamics, Aquarius system, (Laborie, Canada) in a standard protocol. Treatment outcome was assessed by using the UDI-6 and IIQ-7 scores before and after the training program.
An analysis was carried to assess the change of UDI-6 and IIQ-7 scores before and after the pelvic floor training program in women with and without levator ani muscle avulsion. Statistical analysis using student T test and Chi-square test were performed with SPSS 22.0 software (SPSS, Inc, Chicago, IL). Ethics approval was obtained ( CREC-2009.080).
Interpretation of results
Women with levator ani muscle avulsion presented with urinary incontinence reported similar improvement after the pelvic floor training program with mean improvement of UDI-6 and IIQ-7 score.