Assessment of Possibility of Using Ultrasound Imaging in Treatment of Stress Urinary Incontinence in Women-Preliminary Study

Abstract

The number of people suffering from urinary incontinence increases every year. Along this trend, the knowledge of society increases regarding the various methods available for treating this ailment. Both patients and researchers are constantly looking for new treatments for urinary incontinence. One of the new solutions is sonofeedback of the pelvic floor muscles, which may help to strengthen them and thus reduce the problem. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of sonofeedback and transvaginal electrostimulation in increasing the bioelectrical activity of pelvic floor muscles in postmenopausal women with stress urinary incontinence. Sixty women with stress urinary incontinence were enrolled in the study. The patients were divided into two groups: A, where sonofeedback was used, and B, where electrostimulation of the pelvic floor muscles was performed with biofeedback training. In patients, the resting bioelectrical activity of the pelvic floor muscles was assessed using an electromyograph. The assessment of the resting bioelectrical activity of the pelvic floor muscles was performed before the therapy, after the 5th training, and after the therapy. It was observed that after the end of the therapy, the average bioelectrical potential increased by 1.1 µV compared with the baseline in group A. It can be suggested that the sonofeedback method is comparatively effective in reducing symptoms that are associated with urinary incontinence as an electrostimulation method with biofeedback training.

Keywords: electrostimulation; sonofeedback; stress urinary incontinence.

Figure 1

Flow chart of patients in study.