Influence of Pelvic Floor Muscle Contraction on the Profile of Vaginal Closure Pressure in Continent and Stress Urinary Incontinent Women

Purpose: We characterized the vaginal pressure profile as a representation of closure forces along the length and circumference of the vaginal wall. Vaginal pressure profile data were used to test the hypothesis that the strength of pelvic floor muscle contractions differs significantly between continent women and women with stress urinary incontinence.Materials and Methods: Vaginal pressure profile recordings were made in 23 continent subjects and in 10 patients with stress urinary incontinence. The recordings characterized closure forces along the entire length of the vagina and identified differences among the anterior, posterior, left and right sides of the vaginal wall. Using a novel, directionally sensitive vaginal probe we made vaginal pressure profile measurements with the women at rest and during pelvic floor muscle contraction while supine.Results: The nature of the vaginal pressure profile was characterized in terms of force distribution in the anterior and posterior vaginal walls, which was si...