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Women undergoing surgery for vaginal prolapse are at risk for urinary incontinence. In this randomized trial, women who received a midurethral sling had lower rates of incontinence at 3 and 12 months but higher rates of adverse events than those who received sham incisions. One in five women will undergo surgery for pelvic-organ prolapse in her lifetime, 1 and urinary incontinence commonly occurs with pelvic-organ prolapse. In previously continent women with pelvic-organ prolapse, urinary incontinence develops in approximately a quarter of them after prolapse repair; this phenomenon is referred to as occult, latent, de novo, iatrogenic, or potential stress urinary incontinence. 2 In 2006, the Colpopexy and Urinary Reduction Efforts (CARE) trial 2 showed that adding a bladder-neck suspension at the time of abdominal prolapse surgery in women without preoperative stress incontinence significantly reduced the risk of postoperative stress urinary incontinence (23.8%, vs. 44.1% in the control . . .

In a trial comparing onabotulinumtoxinA with an anticholinergic drug, both reduced urgency incontinence episodes. The rates of urinary retention and urinary tract infections were higher with onabotulinumtoxinA, but the rate of dry mouth was higher with anticholinergics. Urgency urinary incontinence is characterized by unpredictable loss of urine; it is a prevalent condition that occurs disproportionately in women, affecting up to 19% of older women in the United States. 1 Anticholinergic medications are used as the primary treatment for this condition. A recent systematic review of trials comparing treatments for urgency urinary incontinence showed that none of the six drugs evaluated was superior to another in treating the condition and that current evidence was insufficient to guide the choice among other therapies, including injections of botulinum toxin. 2 OnabotulinumtoxinA is effective in treating urgency urinary incontinence that is resistant to . . .

Little is known about early postpartum physical activity (PA). We aimed to describe PA amount and types and compare moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA) at 12–25 (T1) and 33–46 days (T2) postpartum. Cross-sectional study. Participants, primiparas delivered vaginally, wore wrist accelerometers and completed questionnaires. Median and interquartile range (IQR) describe minutes/day of PA intensities in total minutes, 5- and 10-minute bouts. Wilcoxon Signed Rank test compared MVPA. 577 (age: 28.3 (SD: 5.1)) had accelerometry or questionnaire at either time-point. 405 had accelerometry at both time-points. Median (IQR) total minutes/day for light, moderate, vigorous and MVPA were 295.8 (256.1–331.7), 54.6 (40–72.7), 0.4 (0.2–0.8), and 55.5 (40.4–74.3), respectively, at T1 and 329 (289.4–367.1), 63.6 (46.9–82.2), 0.6 (0.3–1.3), and 64.5 (47–84.8), respectively, at T2. Median (IQR) minutes/day for MVPA in 5- and 10-minute bouts were 1.6 (0–5.5) and 0 (0–3.8) at T1, and 3 (0–9.2) and 0 (0–5.5) at T2. At T1, 75% (406/541) and at T2, 72.4% (397/548) reported non-impact activities. At T1, 4% and at T2, 13% reported impact/straining activities. MVPA was greater at T2 than T1 (p < 0.0001) with medians (IQR) of: total: 64.7 (47–84.6) vs 56.5 (41–74.9) minutes; 5-minute bouts: 3 (0–9.8) vs 1.7 (0–5.6) minutes; and 10-minute bouts: 1.3(0–6) vs 0(0–3.8) minutes. Women had high daily MVPA, though MVPA in bouts remained low. Significant increases in MVPA from T1 to T2 were small, few women reported impact/straining activities. Realistic return to pre-pregnancy PA levels should recognize the relative lack of sustained/strenuous activity in early postpartum.

More women participate in sports than ever before and the proportion of women athletes at the Olympic Games is nearly 50%. The pelvic floor in women may be the only area of the body where the positive effect of physical activity has been questioned. The aim of this narrative review is to present two widely held opposing hypotheses on the effect of general exercise on the pelvic floor and to discuss the evidence for each. Hypothesis 1: by strengthening the pelvic floor muscles (PFM) and decreasing the levator hiatus, exercise decreases the risk of urinary incontinence, anal incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, but negatively affects the ease and safety of childbirth. Hypothesis 2: by overloading and stretching the PFM, exercise not only increases the risk of these disorders, but also makes labor and childbirth easier, as the PFM do not obstruct the exit of the fetus. Key findings of this review endorse aspects of both hypotheses. Exercising women generally have similar or stronger PFM strength and larger levator ani muscles than non-exercising women, but this does not seem to have a greater risk of obstructed labor or childbirth. Additionally, women that specifically train their PFM while pregnant are not more likely to have outcomes associated with obstructed labor. Mild-to-moderate physical activity, such as walking, decreases the risk of urinary incontinence but female athletes are about three times more likely to have urinary incontinence compared to controls. There is some evidence that strenuous exercise may cause and worsen pelvic organ prolapse, but data are inconsistent. Both intra-abdominal pressure associated with exercise and PFM strength vary between activities and between women; thus the threshold for optimal or negative effects on the pelvic floor almost certainly differs from person to person. Our review highlights many knowledge gaps that need to be understood to understand the full effects of strenuous and non-strenuous activities on pelvic floor health.

IntroductionPelvic floor disorders (PFDs), including pelvic organ prolapse (POP), stress and urgency urinary incontinence, and faecal incontinence, are common and arise from loss of pelvic support. Although severe disease often does not occur until women become older, pregnancy and childbirth are major risk factors for PFDs, especially POP. We understand little about modifiable factors that impact pelvic floor function recovery after vaginal birth. This National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Program Project, ‘Bridging physical and cultural determinants of postpartum pelvic floor support and symptoms following vaginal delivery’, uses mixed-methods research to study the influences of intra-abdominal pressure, physical activity, body habitus and muscle fitness on pelvic floor support and symptoms as well as the cultural context in which women experience those changes.Methods and analysisUsing quantitative methods, we will evaluate whether pelvic floor support and symptoms 1 year after the first vaginal delivery are affected by biologically plausible factors that may impact muscle, nerve and connective tissue healing during recovery (first 8 weeks postpartum) and strengthening (remainder of the first postpartum year). Using qualitative methods, we will examine cultural aspects of perceptions, explanations of changes in pelvic floor support, and actions taken by Mexican-American and Euro-American primipara, emphasising early changes after childbirth. We will summarise project results in a resource toolkit that will enhance opportunities for dialogue between women, their families and providers, and across lay and medical discourses. We anticipate enrolling up to 1530 nulliparous women into the prospective cohort study during the third trimester, following those who deliver vaginally 1 year postpartum. Participants will be drawn from this cohort to meet the project's aims.Ethics and disseminationThe University of Utah and Intermountain Healthcare Institutional Review Boards approved this study. Data are stored in a secure password-protected database. Papers summarising the primary results and ancillary analyses will be published in peer-reviewed journals.

Historically, women who were considering surgery for stress urinary incontinence faced wide abdominal incisions, inpatient hospitalizations, and a 6-week recovery period. Two decades ago, the introduction of midurethral-sling procedures, which involve passing a small strip of polypropylene mesh under the urethra, resulted in shorter recovery than traditional procedures with similar efficacy. In the first generation of procedures, mesh was placed through the retropubic space. A second-generation approach passed the mesh through the obturator space, to minimize the risk of bowel or bladder injury with trocars inserted into the retropubic space. Extensive evidence, including from 81 trials involving 12,113 women, supports . . .

Introduction and hypothesis The objective was to describe the intra-abdominal pressures (IAP) generated during Pilates Mat and Reformer activities, and determine whether these activities generate IAP above a sit-to-stand threshold. Methods Twenty healthy women with no symptomatic vaginal bulge, median age 43 (range 22–59 years), completed Pilates Mat and Reformer exercise routines each consisting of 11 exercises. IAP was collected by an intra-vaginal pressure transducer, transmitted wirelessly to a base station, and analyzed for maximal and area under the curve (AUC) IAP. Results There were no statistically significant differences in the mean maximal IAP between sit-to-stand and any of the Mat or Reformer exercises in the study population. Six to twenty-five percent of participants exceeded their individual mean maximal IAP sit-to-stand thresholds for 10 of the 22 exercises. When measuring AUC from 0 cm H 2 O, half the exercises exceeded the mean AUC of sit-to-stand, but only Pilates Reformer and Mat roll-ups exceeded the mean AUC of sit-to-stand when calculated from a threshold of 40 cm H 2 O (consistent with, for example, walking). Conclusion Our results support recommending this series of introductory Pilates exercises, including five Mat exercises and six Reformer exercises to women desiring a low IAP exercise routine. More research is needed to determine the long-term effects of Pilates exercise on post-surgical exercise rehabilitation and pelvic floor health.

The 1918-20 pandemic influenza killed 50-100 million people worldwide, but mortality varied by ethnicity and geography. In Norway, areas dominated by Sámi experienced 3-5 times higher mortality than the country's average. We here use data from burial registers and censuses to calculate all-cause excess mortality by age and wave in two remote Sámi areas of Norway 1918-20. We hypothesise that geographic isolation, less prior exposure to seasonal influenza, and thus less immunity led to higher Indigenous mortality and a different age distribution of mortality (higher mortality for all) than was typical for this pandemic in non-isolated majority populations (higher young adult mortality & sparing of the elderly). Our results show that in the fall of 1918 (Karasjok), winter of 1919 (Kautokeino), and winter of 1920 (Karasjok), young adults had the highest excess mortality, followed by also high excess mortality among the elderly and children. Children did not exhibit excess mortality in the second wave in Karasjok in 1920. It was not the young adults alone who produced the excess mortality in Kautokeino and Karasjok. We conclude that geographic isolation caused higher mortality among the elderly in the first and second waves, and among children in the first wave.

Many surgeons recommend rest and restricting activities to their patients after surgery. The aim of this review is to summarize the literature regarding types of activities gynecologic surgeons restrict and intra-abdominal pressure during specific activities and to provide an overview of negative effects of sedentary behavior (rest). We searched PubMed and Scopus for years 1970 until present and excluded studies that described recovery of activities of daily living after surgery as well as those that assessed intra-abdominal pressure for other reasons such as abdominal compartment syndrome and hypertension. For our review of intra-abdominal pressure, we excluded studies that did not include a generally healthy population, or did not report maximal intra-abdominal pressures. We identified no randomized trial or prospective cohort study that studied the association between postoperative activity and surgical success after pelvic floor repair. The ranges of intra-abdominal pressures during specific activities are large and such pressures during activities commonly restricted and not restricted after surgery overlap considerably. There is little concordance in mean peak intra-abdominal pressures across studies. Intra-abdominal pressure depends on many factors, but not least the manner in which it is measured and reported. Given trends towards shorter hospital stays and off work intervals, which both predispose women to higher levels of physical activity, we urge research efforts towards understanding the role of physical activity on recurrence of pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence after surgery.

The aim of this study is to describe results of reduction testing in stress-continent women undergoing sacrocolpopexy and to estimate whether stress leakage during urodynamic testing with prolapse reduction predicts postoperative stress incontinence. Three hundred twenty-two stress-continent women with stages II–IV prolapse underwent standardized urodynamics. Five prolapse reduction methods were tested: two at each site and both performed for each subject. Clinicians were masked to urodynamic results. At sacrocolpopexy, participants were randomized to Burch colposuspension or no Burch (control). P -values were computed by two-tailed Fisher’s exact test or t -test. Preoperatively, only 12 of 313 (3.7%) subjects demonstrated urodynamic stress incontinence (USI) without prolapse reduction. More women leaked after the second method than after the first (22% vs. 16%; p = 0.012). Preoperative detection of USI with prolapse reduction at 300ml was pessary, 6% (5 of 88); manual, 16% (19 of 122); forceps, 21% (21 of 98); swab, 20% (32 of 158); and speculum, 30% (35 of 118). Women who demonstrated preoperative USI during prolapse reduction were more likely to report postoperative stress incontinence, regardless of concomitant colposuspension (controls 58% vs. 38% ( p = 0.04) and Burch 32% vs. 21% ( p = 0.19)). In stress-continent women undergoing sacrocolpopexy, few women demonstrated USI without prolapse reduction. Detection rates of USI with prolapse reduction varied significantly by reduction method. Preoperative USI leakage during reduction testing is associated with a higher risk for postoperative stress incontinence at 3 months. Future research is warranted in this patient population to evaluate other treatment options to refine predictions and further reduce the risk of postoperative stress incontinence.