Abstract
Background: Physiotherapy should be performed by patients with stress or mixed urinary incontinence (SUI and MUI) to increase the strength and endurance of the pelvic floor muscles (PFMs). A method that can positively affect the pelvic floor is stimulation with high-inductive electromagnetic stimulation (HIES). The aim of the study was to evaluate the PFMs after the application of HIES in women with SUI and MUI by using surface electromyography (sEMG). Methods: This was a prospective, randomized, single-blind study with a sham intervention group. The participants were randomly assigned to the HIES group or sham group. The outcomes were features of the bioelectrical PFM activity assessed using sEMG and endovaginal probes. A single-session intervention in the HIES group included 20 min of HIES with an electromagnetic induction intensity of 2.5 T. Results: In the HIES group, there was a statistically significant difference in the PFM sEMG activity during “contractions” (p < 0.001) and “quick flicks” (p = 0.005). In the intergroup comparison, higher PFM sEMG activity after the intervention (“contraction”) was observed in the HIES group than in the sham group (after: p = 0.047; 1 h after: p = 0.017). Conclusions: The assessed HIES method seems effective for SUI and MUI patients in the short term and shows an advantage over the sham intervention in the assessment of PFM contractions.
Highlights
In women, weakening of fascia–ligament–muscle structures of the pelvic floor and disorders of the blood supply to the tissues of this area often cause symptoms of stress or mixed urinary incontinence (SUI and MUI) [1,2,3,4,5]
Inclusion criteria were (1) provision of informed consent to participate in the study; (2) obtaining permission to participate in the study based on the assessment of all the inclusion and exclusion criteria by the members of the research team; (3) lack of contraindications for the surface electromyography (sEMG) measurement; (4) lack of contraindications for high-inductive electromagnetic stimulation (HIES); and (5) occurrence of symptoms of SUI or MUI
The term “high-intensity focused electromagnetic field” (HIFEM) is used, but it refers to the same electromagnetic field with 2.5 T inductance that was used in this study
Summary
In women, weakening of fascia–ligament–muscle structures of the pelvic floor and disorders of the blood supply to the tissues of this area often cause symptoms of stress or mixed urinary incontinence (SUI and MUI) [1,2,3,4,5]. Physiotherapy (including physical therapy) should be performed by patients with these types of symptoms to increase the strength and endurance of the pelvic floor muscles (PFMs) as well as increase the elasticity of the pelvic floor structures [6,7,8,9,10]. It seems that one of the methods of physical therapy that may positively affect the pelvic floor is stimulation with high-inductive electromagnetic stimulation (HIES; high-inductive, deep-penetrating, pulsed electromagnetic stimulation) [11,12,13,14]. Physiotherapy should be performed by patients with stress or mixed urinary incontinence (SUI and MUI) to increase the strength and endurance of the pelvic floor muscles (PFMs). Conclusions: The assessed HIES method seems effective for SUI and MUI patients in the short term and shows an advantage over the sham intervention in the assessment of PFM contractions
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