[Electrical stimulation of the pelvic floor versus vaginal cone therapy for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence].
OBJECTIVE
to compare the effects of functional electrostimulation of the pelvic floor and therapy with cones in women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI).


METHODS
randomized clinical study for which 45 patients with SUI were selected. The effects of functional electrostimulation of the pelvic floor were evaluated in the SUI treatment of 24 women, with the use of clinical data (micturition diary, pad test and a questionnaire about quality of life - I-QoL). The patients were submitted to two 20' weekly sessions for four consecutive months, under the supervision of a physiotherapist. The electrode used had 10 cm length and 3.5 cm width with a double metallic ring and a cylindrical shape, positioned in the medium third of the vagina. The electric parameters used were: intensity varying from 10 to 100 mA and 50 Hz of fixed frequency, with pulse duration of 1 ms. Also, we evaluated 21 patients who were submitted to vaginal cone treatment. The cone therapy was done with two 45 minute sessions per week. The cones' weight varied from 20 to 100 gr.


RESULTS
there was no difference between the outcomes of electrostimulation of the pelvic floor and the vaginal cones for the treatment of SUI (p>0.05). After four months, there was a significant improvement in the I-QoL index of the patients treated both with electrostimulation (40.3 versus 82.9) or with the cones (47.7 versus 84.1). There was a significant decrease in pad weight in both groups, measured before and after the treatment (28.5 and 32 g versus 2.0 and 3.0 g for the electrostimulation and cone group, respectively). Finally, there was a significant decrease in the number of urinary leakage evaluated by the micturition diary in both groups (p<0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
both electrostimulation and vaginal cones were effective in the treatment of women with SUI.
Santos
Patrícia Fernandes Diniz
PF
Setor de Uroginecologia e Cirurgia Vaginal, Departamento de Ginecologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
Oliveira
Emerson
E
Zanetti
Miriam Raquel Diniz
MR
Arruda
Raquel Martins
RM
Sartori
Marair Gracio Ferreira
MG
Girão
Manoel João Batista Castello
MJ
Castro
Rodrigo Aquino
RA
D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017773:Pelvic Floor; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000628:therapy*; D014621:Vagina