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Interaction of Abdominal and Pelvic Floor Muscles

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Insights Into Incontinence and the Pelvic Floor

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Abstract

Synergetic activity between the pelvic floor muscles (PFM) and the abdominal muscles in continent women has been studied for several years, and the topic remains an ongoing discussion. During functional activities, the PFM reacts to modulate the intra-abdominal pressure. Also, it has been shown a co-activity between the abdominals and the PFM. We aimed to investigate whether there is a relationship between the PFM strength and the muscles surrounding the abdominal cavity among continent and incontinent women. Forty-eight young and nulliparous healthy women (32 continent and 16 incontinent with complaints of stress urinary incontinence) were evaluated. PFM strength was assessed by manometry, and maximal expiratory pressure and maximal inspiratory pressure were used as a measure of the deep abdominal muscles and the diaphragm muscle, respectively; the superficial abdominals strength was evaluated by isokinetic dynamometry. The results demonstrated that the correlations were only significant among continent women and between the PFM and the superficial abdominals (r = 0.447; p = 0.010) and the deep abdominals (r = 0.572; p = 0.001). Our results suggest that only in continent women PFM strength appears to be associated with abdominal strength. More studies are needed in women with pelvic floor dysfunction to clarify this relationship and thus outline more appropriate interventions.

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Acknowledgments

AC was involved in planning the study and data collection and reviewed and analyzed the literature, wrote the paper, and approved the final version. TR was involved in reviewing and analyzing the literature and wrote the paper and approved the final version. RNJ was involved in planning the study and critically revised the article and approved the final version.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. LAETA, INEGI, CESPU, Escola Superior de Tecnologias da Saúde do Tâmega e Sousa, Porto, Portugal

    Alice Carvalhais

  2. Laboratory of Biomechanics, Center for Health and Sports Sciences (CEFID), Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC), Florianópolis, Brazil

    Thuane Da Roza

  3. LAETA, INEGI, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Renato Natal Jorge

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  1. Alice Carvalhais
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  2. Thuane Da Roza
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  3. Renato Natal Jorge
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Correspondence to Alice Carvalhais .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

    Fulya Dökmeci

  2. Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Bahrain

    Diaa E. E. Rizk

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 The authors truly acknowledge the funding provided by Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal), through LAETA, under project UIDB/50022/2020.

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Carvalhais, A., Da Roza, T., Natal Jorge, R. (2022). Interaction of Abdominal and Pelvic Floor Muscles. In: Dökmeci, F., Rizk, D.E.E. (eds) Insights Into Incontinence and the Pelvic Floor. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94174-1_31

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