Conservative Management of Stress Urinary Incontinence by Biofeedback-Assisted Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy

Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the rule of biofeedback-assisted pelvic-floor muscle exercise (PFME) in relieving the symptoms of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in premenopausal women.Patients and Methods: Sixty-five women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) attending the outpatient clinics of Al-Azhar University Hospitals were enrolled in this study from March 2011 to March 2012 and were managed by biofeedback-assisted PFME with surface electromyography (sEMG). All participants were of reproductive age and were treated individually for 16 sessions. Results were evaluated with a 7-day voiding diary, a 1-hour pad test, pelvic floor muscle strength measurements, sEMG amplitudes, a leakage index, and a quality of life questionnaire. These variables were compared before and after the intervention.Results: The frequency of urine loss, the occurrence of nocturia, and the number of pads required decreased significantly after the intervention. Objective cure was found in 61.5% of women. There was a significant improvement in the quality of life, in pelvic-floor muscle strength, and in the sEMG amplitudes of all contractions throughout the intervention.Conclusion: A relatively short term intervention of biofeedback-assisted pelvic floor muscle exercise (PFME) with sEMG appeared to be helpful in relieving symptoms of SUI in premenopausal women and represents a reasonable conservative management option.