The impact of electrostimulation and EMG-biofeedback therapy on the distribution and coordination of anal sphincter muscle tone based on the example of two randomly selected patients with fecal incontinence

Abstract

Damage to the pelvic floor muscles, which are responsible for sphincter functions, and diseases or injuries of the nerves that control their bioelectric activity are always associated with functional changes manifested in the form of discoordination of motor units, in muscles involved in contraction. As a result of difficult or impossible communication between neural centres that regulate sphincter tone and proprioceptors, muscle tone becomes unstable, modulated inadequately to the needs and generating many undesirable symptoms, as bioelectric voltage has a significant impact on the vital functions of muscle and nerve cells. An assessment of muscular activity expressed in objective units, i.e. microvolts, is possible only with electromyography. Self-performed exercises and electrostimulation may fail to produce the desired improvement in the case of degraded nervous mechanisms underlying the distribution and coordination of muscle activity. Electrostimulation and EMG-biofeedback therapy help normalise bioelectrical activity and thus contribute to the healing process. Plasticity of the nervous system allows for the creation of new neural networks that normalise muscle tone and improve control over sphincter activity as a result of patient’s conscious involvement in EMG-biofeedback therapy.