Anatomical and functional significance of urogenital hiatus in primary urodynamic stress incontinence

Abstract

Objectives

Evaluation of pelvic floor function by transabdominal ultrasound in postpartum women

“…In this study, genitohiatal distance was larger [14,15,23,30], and displacement of the bladder base was smaller than those reported previously [17,19,20]. There are three possible reasons for the differences in the absolute values of the measurements between this and previous studies.…”

“…Since genitohiatal distance is one of the established parameters of pelvic floor function [12,14,15], evaluation of displacement of the bladder base during pelvic floor muscle contraction using transabdominal ultrasound can be clinically useful for assessing pelvic floor function, considering its noninvasive nature and high reproducibility.…”

“…The supporting system of the pelvic floor plays an important role in the occurrence of stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse [15,23,24]. It is comprised of muscle, fascia, and ligaments around the pelvic floor.…”

“…Transperineal ultrasound has been commonly used to measure genitohiatal distance, i.e., the minimum distance between the hyperechogenic posterior aspect of the pubic symphysis and the hyperechogenic anterior border of the pubovisceral muscle just posterior to the anorectal muscularis in the mid-sagittal plane, for assessing pelvic floor function [12,14,15]. However, transperineal ultrasound requires a relatively complicated technique to create a clear image of the pubic symphysis, the anorectal junction, and the bladder neck in the mid-sagittal plane [10,11].…”

Ultrasound Evaluation of Dynamic Responses of Female Pelvic Floor Muscles

“…The readily visible, clearly resolved anatomical structure in perineal ultrasound imaging is the angle the rectal ampulla forms with the anal canal, the ARA. The ARA has become the target of our present analysis because the central sling component of the PFM, puborectalis and pubococcygeus, wrap around the anorectal junction, and its displacement is closely associated with a PFM contraction (Costantini et al 2006;Huang et al 2006). …”