What Does Electromyography Tell Us About Dyspareunia?

McLean, Linda; Brooks, Kaylee

doi:10.1016/j.sxmr.2017.02.001

Cited by 22 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…Its value was higher in patients than in healthy women during maximum contractions and relaxation, especially when compared with mature/parous healthy women. Like us, several other authors have observed an increased amplitude of the sEMG signal in muscle at rest in women with PFM-associated pelvic pain [16,17,48], which has traditionally been associated with an increased level of neural excitation [13]. However, unlike us, some authors have reported no differences in the amplitude of the signal during PFM contractions [18,49] or even lower values [16,17] when the patients were compared with healthy subjects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

“…CPP and other clinical conditions of the pelvic floor (pelvic organ prolapse, urinary/fecal incontinence, etc.) are closely associated with dysfunction of the pelvic floor musculature (PFM) [12], so that surface electromyography is considered to be a useful tool to assess patients' clinical condition [13,14]. The surface electromyogram (sEMG) is the electric signal recorded by means of electrodes attached to the surface of the skin or inside an anatomical opening produced by the sum of the extracellular potentials from the active muscle fibers beneath the electrodes [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The surface electromyogram (sEMG) is the electric signal recorded by means of electrodes attached to the surface of the skin or inside an anatomical opening produced by the sum of the extracellular potentials from the active muscle fibers beneath the electrodes [15]. Various authors have reported overactivity of the PFM in CPP patients with dyspareunia, which suggests the possible role of the PFM in this disorder [13]. Different researchers have attempted to determine and fulfill the diagnostic potential of sEMG in this clinical area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characterization of Pelvic Floor Activity in Healthy Subjects and with Chronic Pelvic Pain: Diagnostic Potential of Surface Electromyography

Albaladejo-Belmonte

Tarazona-Motes

Nohales-Alfonso

et al. 2021

Sensors

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Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a highly disabling disorder in women usually associated with hypertonic dysfunction of the pelvic floor musculature (PFM). The literature on the subject is not conclusive about the diagnostic potential of surface electromyography (sEMG), which could be due to poor signal characterization. In this study, we characterized the PFM activity of three groups of 24 subjects each: CPP patients with deep dyspareunia associated with a myofascial syndrome (CPP group), healthy women over 35 and/or parous (>35/P group, i.e., CPP counterparts) and under 35 and nulliparous (<35&NP). sEMG signals of the right and left PFM were recorded during contractions and relaxations. The signals were characterized by their root mean square (RMS), median frequency (MDF), Dimitrov index (DI), sample entropy (SampEn), and cross-correlation (CC). The PFM activity showed a higher power (>RMS), a predominance of low-frequency components (<MDF, >DI), greater complexity (>SampEn) and lower synchronization on the same side (<CC) in CPP patients, with more significant differences in the >35/P group. The same trend in differences was found between healthy women (<35&NP vs. >35/P) associated with aging and parity. These results show that sEMG can reveal alterations in PFM electrophysiology and provide clinicians with objective information for CPP diagnosis.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characterization of Pelvic Floor Activity in Healthy Subjects and with Chronic Pelvic Pain: Diagnostic Potential of Surface Electromyography

Albaladejo-Belmonte

Tarazona-Motes

Nohales-Alfonso

et al. 2021

Sensors

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show abstract

“…Recent clinical trials (Ghaderi, Bastani, Hajebrahimi, Jafarabadi, & Berghmans, 2019; Schvartzman et al., 2019) have shown that PFM strengthening‐based protocols are effective for the treatment of pelvic floor dysfunctions that cause muscle tenderness. Women with sensitiveness to palpation usually present with decreased ability to achieve and sustain a PFM contraction and to relax the PFM after activation (McLean & Brooks, 2017). PFMT can contribute to improve PFM function by an increase in the number of capillaries in trained muscle, improving blood flow and reducing muscle tone (Mercier et al., 2020; Naess & Bo, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pelvic floor muscle training for women with lumbopelvic pain: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Vesentini

Prior

Ferreira

et al. 2020

European Journal of Pain

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Background and Objective: It has been suggested that pelvic floor dysfunction may contribute to the development of lumbopelvic pain as a result of changes in trunk muscle control. However, there is limited evidence that pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) can improve clinical outcomes in women with lumbopelvic pain. Databases and Data Treatment: Six databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the effectiveness of PFMT to other conservative interventions (usual physiotherapy care or minimal intervention), no treatment or placebo interventions on pain and disability in women with lumbopelvic pain. Results: We included eight RCTs totalling 469 participants. PFMT was more effective than minimal intervention for lumbopelvic pain [mean difference (MD) 15.9/100 (95% confidential interval (CI), 8.2 to 23.6; p = 0.00; I 2 = 3.92%)] and disability [standardized mean difference (SMD) 0.5 (95% CI 0.1-0.9; p = 0.00; I 2 = 0%)] during pregnancy. PFMT was more effective than usual physiotherapy care for pain (MD 11.7/100 [95% CI 7.5-15.9; p = 0.00; I 2 = 94.14%]) and disability (SMD 0.3 (95% CI 0.0-0.6; p = 0.01; I 2 = 82.54%]) in non-pregnant women. Effect sizes were in general of arguable clinical relevance. Conclusions: Overall, the certainty of the evidence was very low to low. There is no conclusive evidence that the addition of PFMT to usual physiotherapy care or minimal intervention is superior to minimal intervention and usual care alone given the small number of studies and high levels of heterogeneity of included studies. Further well-designed trials are needed to establish the effectiveness of PFMT for lumbopelvic pain in women.

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“…In particular, a few studies have been successfully using the surface EMG to assess PFM function. These studies range from a singular PFM assessment 5 to a pre‐ and postassessment of PFM dysfunctions under different treatments 6 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reliability of different electromyographic normalization methods for pelvic floor muscles assessment

Pereira-Baldon

Oliveira

Padilha

et al. 2020

Neurourology and Urodynamics

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Aims: To evaluate the reliability of different methods to normalize pelvic floor muscles (PFM) electromyography (EMG).Methods: Thirty nulliparous women (23.9 ± 3.2 years), free from PFM dysfunction, completed two test sessions 7 days apart. For EMG normalization, signals were acquired during four different tasks using a vaginal probe in situ:PFM maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and three daily activities with increased intra-abdominal pressure (coughing, Valsalva maneuver, and abdominal contraction). The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), standard error of measurement (SEM), relative standard error of measurement (%SEM), and minimal detectable change (MDC) were calculated for each variable. Results: ICC values for test-retest reliability of normalization methods ranged from 0.61 to 0.95. The highest values were obtained for mean root mean square (RMS) of the abdominal contraction and peak RMS of PFM-MVC. Normalization using RMS of PFM-MVC showed the lowest values of SEM and MDC. Conclusions:The normalization of EMG data is considered a fundamental part of EMG investigations. These findings suggest that the normalization of PFM-EMG by either peak RMS of PFM-MVC or mean and peak RMS of abdominal contraction has excellent reliability and it can be applied in studies involving the evaluation of young women. K E Y W O R D S muscle activity, muscle contraction, pelvic floor, reliability, urinary continence | PEREIRA-BALDON ET AL.

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What Does Electromyography Tell Us About Dyspareunia?

Cited by 22 publications

References 81 publications

Characterization of Pelvic Floor Activity in Healthy Subjects and with Chronic Pelvic Pain: Diagnostic Potential of Surface Electromyography

Characterization of Pelvic Floor Activity in Healthy Subjects and with Chronic Pelvic Pain: Diagnostic Potential of Surface Electromyography

Pelvic floor muscle training for women with lumbopelvic pain: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Reliability of different electromyographic normalization methods for pelvic floor muscles assessment

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