Premium
Does episiotomy influence vaginal resting pressure, pelvic floor muscle strength and endurance, and prevalence of urinary incontinence 6 weeks postpartum?
Author(s) -
Bø Kari,
Hilde Gunvor,
Tennfjord Merete Kolberg,
Engh Marie Ellstrøm
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
neurourology and urodynamics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.918
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1520-6777
pISSN - 0733-2467
DOI - 10.1002/nau.22995
Subject(s) - medicine , episiotomy , pelvic floor , urinary incontinence , pelvic floor muscle , obstetrics , childbirth , vaginal delivery , urology , gynecology , pregnancy , surgery , genetics , biology
Aims The aim of the present study was to compare vaginal resting pressure (VRP), pelvic floor muscle (PFM) strength and endurance, and prevalence of urinary incontinence (UI) at 6 weeks postpartum, in women with and without lateral or mediolateral episiotomy. Methods Two hundred and thirty‐eight nulliparous pregnant women, mean age 28.5 years (SD 4.2) and pre‐pregnancy BMI 23.8 (SD 4.0) participated in the study. Lateral or mediolateral episiotomy was only performed for indications such as fetal distress or imminent risk of severe perineal tear. At 6 weeks postpartum, a vaginal balloon connected to a high precision pressure transducer was used to measure VRP (cm H 2 O), PFM strength (cm H 2 O), and endurance (cm H 2 O sec). All women completed the International Classification of Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ‐UI‐SF) by means of an electronic questionnaire. Results No statistically significant differences were found in VRP (mean difference 0.0 cm H 2 O, 95%CI: −2.1 to 2.1), PFM strength (mean difference 1.3 cm H 2 O, 95%CI: −1.9 to 4.6), or PFM endurance (mean difference 12.1 cm H 2 O sec, 95%CI: −11.0 to 35.1) between women with or without episiotomy. No significant differences were found in prevalence of UI (37.5% vs. 46.6%) or SUI (23.6% vs. 35.6%), between women with or without episiotomy, respectively. Conclusions PFM function and/or prevalence of post‐partum UI were not affected by a lateral or mediolateral episiotomy. Neurourol. Urodynam. 36:683–686, 2017 . © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.