A 10‐year follow‐up after Kegel pelvic floor muscle exercises for genuine stress incontinence

Abstract

Objective To determine the outcome 10 years after an individual course of pelvic¯oor muscle (PFM) exercises for genuine stress incontinence. Patients and methods Postal questionnaires were sent to 52 women who had undergone PFM training 10 years earlier, and their medical ®les were reviewed. The main outcome measures were the patients' selfassessment of therapy outcome, the frequency of PFM exercises at home, and the demand for surgery after physiotherapy. Results Forty-®ve women (87%; mean age 61 years) were suitable for analysis. On completing the course of PFM exercises, physiotherapy had been apparently successful in 24 (53%), and considered to have failed in 21 women (47%). Sixteen of the 24 successful patients remained satis®ed with their urinary continence when reassessed 10 years later; two women had undergone surgery (8%). In the group where physiotherapy initially failed, ®ve women (24%) who had not had surgery claimed to be much improved; 13 women (62%) had undergone surgery. Overall, women in whom the conservative treatment of stress incontinence had produced an improvement over the 10 years had practised PFM exercises more regularly (76%) than the others (55%; not signi®cant). However, an active voluntary PFM contraction before a sudden intra-abdominal pressure rise (`perineal lock') appeared to be responsible for most of the success. Conclusions When PFM training is initially successful, there is a 66% chance that the favourable results will persist for at least 10 years.

Role of postpartum Kegel exercises in the prevention and cure of stress incontinence

“…13 The favourable response to PFM training indicates that the improvement persists for a long time as reported in a study that there is a 66% chance that the favourable results will persist for at least 10 years. 14 The increase in strength of PFM can be confirmed by vaginal and anal surface electromyograms and urethral and vaginal squeeze pressure measurements. 15 Behavioural treatment options concentrate on traditional physical therapy techniques of education, therapeutic exercise, and the use of physical modalities that aid in the restoration of muscle function.…”

Home exercises for pelvic floor in continent women one year after physical therapy treatment for urinary incontinence: an observational study

“…The physical therapy treatment given to the participants from the present observational study is widely described in the literature 2,16 , and it is considered effective for urinary loss due to stress. However, to date, the persistence of its clinical benefits in the long-term is still unclear 18,19 . The age of the patients in this study ranged from 34 to 75 years.…”

“…Bo and Talseth 27 found that 5 years after the end of treatment 61% of the group considered themselves satisfied with their condition. Cammu et al 19 reported that out of the 45 women treated with strengthening of the pelvic floor, 77% would recommend the treatment to friends and family members.…”

Effectiveness of Biofeedback Therapy as Conservative Choice for Management of Female Stress Urinary Incontinence

“…furthermore, women in assisted bf therapy achieve results which are almost double compared to self-conducted Kegel exercises (26). it should be noted that it is very important to perform the exercises correctly because the likelihood that positive results will last for the next 10 years is increased by 66% if Kegel exercises in the initial stage are successfully and positively evaluated (27).…”