title: Outpatient measurement of perineal descent.
abstract: One hundred and fifty-eight consecutive patients attending a rectal clinic have undergone measurement of perineal descent at rest and during straining by a simple noninvasive method. In nine patients (5.7%) the perineum was assessed as being below the ischial tuberosities at rest, whilst a further nine patients (5.7%) had abnormal descent (greater than 2.5 cm) during straining. Sixteen of the 18 patients with abnormal descent at rest or on straining were female and in ten (56%) a diagnosis of haemorrhoids was made at the initial clinic attendance. Parity of four or more was associated with a greater degree of descent during straining (P less than 0.05) than in women having a single pregnancy only.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003672:Defecation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010298:Parity; D010502:Perineum / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012002:Rectal Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D012737:Sex Factors; D013577:Syndrome