Just attended a phone conference review of all of the new research presented at the International Continence Society 2013 in Barcelona. Some interesting research topics included: levator ani defects found in 13-39% women after vaginal delivery and MRI studies show that post partum women with levator ani defects at 6 months post partum may recover on their own yet some remain with major defects; patients with urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse who demonstrated severely weak or absent pelvic floor muscle contraction upon vaginal palpation and after being trained in proper contraction…81% could properly contract their pelvic floor muscles; use of sub maximal contractions of the pelvic floor muscles lasting 30 seconds resulted in decreased intra abdominal pressure and improved bladder neck position. Most of the research supported the approaches of physical therapy intervention to treat urinary incontinence by educating the patient how to properly perform pelvic floor muscle contractions. Visual aides such as real time ultrasound, surface EMG biofeedback, palpation, and verbal instruction are very effective tools to help the incontinent patient improve their symptoms.
