Pelvic floor exercises with biofeedback for stress urinary incontinence.
OBJECTIVE
Prospective study to objectively evaluate the benefits of pelvic floor strengthening exercises associated to biofeedback for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence.


METHODS
Fourteen patients diagnosed with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) were selected for this study. All patients underwent a pelvic floor training associated to biofeedback for 12 consecutive weeks. Urodynamic tests, pad test and bladder diary were analyzed at the beginning of the study, at the end and after 3 months. The King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ) was applied before and after treatment to assess the impact in the quality of life.


RESULTS
There was a significant reduction in the pad weight (from 14.21 g to 1 g), number of urinary leakage episodes (from 8.14 per day to 2.57 per day) and daytime frequency (from 7.93 per day to 5.85 per day). At urodynamics the authors observed a significant increase in Valsalva leak-point pressure (from 103.93 cm H2O to 139.14 cm H2O), cistometric capacity (from 249.29 mL to 336.43 mL, p = 0.0015) and bladder volume at first desire to void (from 145 mL to 215.71 mL). Those differences were kept during the first 3 months of follow up. The KHQ revealed significant differences except in the case of ''general health perception'', which covers health in general and not exclusively urinary incontinence.


CONCLUSIONS
Treatment of SUI with pelvic floor exercises associated to biofeedback caused significant changes in the parameters analyzed, with maintenance of good results 3 months after treatment.
Capelini
Maria V
MV
Division of Urology and Gynecology, State University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Riccetto
Cassio L
CL
Dambros
Miriam
M
Tamanini
Jose T
JT
Herrmann
Viviane
V
Muller
Virginia
V
D000328:Adult; D001676:Biofeedback, Psychology; D004576:Electromyography; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D017773:Pelvic Floor / Q000502:physiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D014563:Urodynamics