Postpartum pelvic organ prolapse and pelvic floor muscle training
Results from a randomized controlled trial of primiparous women
Abstract
Objectives To study effects of physiotherapist-guided pelvic floor
muscle training on pelvic organ prolapse (POP) early postpartum period.
Design Assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial. Setting
Physiotherapy Clinic, Reykjavik. Sample Eighty-four primiparous women
with a singleton delivery. Methods Participants were screened for
eligibility 6-13 weeks postpartum. Women randomized to the training
group conducted 12 weekly individual sessions with a physiotherapist,
starting on average 9 weeks after childbirth. Outcomes were assessed
after the last session (short-term) and at 12 months postpartum
(long-term). The control group received no instructions after the
initial assessment. Main outcome measures Self-evaluated POP symptoms by
the Australian Pelvic Floor Questionnaire. Results Forty-one and 43
women were randomized to the training and control groups, respectively.
At recruitment, 17 (42.5%) of the training and 15 (37%) of the control
group reported prolapse symptoms (p=0.6). Five (13%) from the training
and 9 (21%) controls were bothered by the symptoms (p=0.3). There was a
gradual decrease in the number of women with symptoms and no significant
short-term (p=0.08 at 6 months) or long-term (p=0.6 at 12 months)
differences between the groups regarding rates of women with POP
sympoms. No difference was between groups regarding bother in the short
(p=0.3) or longer term (p=0.4). Repeated measure analyses using Proc
Genmod in SAS did not indicate a significant effect of the intervention
over time, p>0.05. Conclusions There was an overall
decrease in postpartum symptoms of POP and bother during the first year.
Physiotherapist-lead pelvic floor muscle training did not change the
outcomes.