Gunvor Hilde

The cochrane review of advice to stay active as a single treatment for low back pain and sciatica.

Study Design. A systematic review was conducted within the Cochrane Collaboration Back Review Group. Objectives. To assess the effects of advice to stay active as a single treatment for patients with acute low back pain or sciatica. Summary of Background Data. Low back pain is a common reason for consulting a health care provider, and advice on daily activities constitutes an important part in the primary care management of low back pain. Methods. All randomized studies available in systematic searches (electronic databases, contact with authors, reference lists) were included. Two reviewers independently selected trials for inclusion, assessed the validity of the included trials, and extracted data. Investigators were contacted to obtain missing information. Results. Four trials, with a total of 491 patients, were included. In all the trials, advice to stay active was compared with advice for bed rest. Two trials were assessed as having a low risk of bias, and two as having a moderate to high risk of bias. The results were heterogeneous. The results from one high-quality trial of patients with acute, simple low back pain found small differences in functional status (weighted mean difference on a 0 to 100 scale, 6.0; 95% CI, 1.5–10.5) and length of sick leave (weighted mean difference, 3.4 days; 95% CI, 1.6–5.2) in favor of staying active, as compared with advice to stay in bed 2 days. The other high-quality trial compared advice to stay active with advice to rest in bed 14 days for patients with sciatic syndrome, and found no differences between the groups. One of the high-quality trials also compared advice to stay active with advice to engage in exercises for patients with acute, simple low back pain, and found improvement in functional status and reduced sick leave in favor of advice to stay active. Conclusion. The best available evidence suggests that advice to stay active alone has little beneficial effect for patients with acute, simple low back pain, and little or no effect for patients with sciatica. There is no evidence that advice to stay active is harmful for either acute low back pain or sciatica. Because there is no considerable difference between advice to stay active and advice for bed rest, and there are potential harmful effects of prolonged bed rest, it is reasonable to advise people with acute low back pain and sciatica to stay active. These conclusions are based on single trials.

The cochrane review of bed rest for acute low back pain and sciatica

Study Design. A systematic review within the Cochrane Collaboration Back Review Group. Objectives. To assess the effects of advice to rest in bed for patients with acute low back pain (LBP) or sciatica. Summary of Background Data. Low back pain is a common reason for consulting a health care provider, and advice on daily activities constitutes an important part in the primary care management of low back pain. Methods. All randomized studies available in systematic searches (electronic databases, contact with authors, and reference lists) were included. Two reviewers independently selected trials for inclusion, assessed the validity of included trials, and extracted data. Investigators were contacted to obtain missing information. Results. Nine trials with a total of 1435 patients were included. Four trials compared bed rest with advice to stay active, and the overall results were heterogeneous. Overall, results from two high-quality studies indicate no difference in pain intensity at the 3-week follow-up (standardized mean difference 0.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] −0.3, 0.2]), and a small difference in functional status in favor of staying active (weighted mean difference 3.2 [on a 0–100 scale] 95% CI 0.6, 5.8). In two high-quality trials no differences were reported in pain intensity between 2–3 days of bed rest and 7 days of bed rest. In another two high-quality trials, no differences were found between bed rest and exercises in pain intensity or functional status. Conclusion. Bed rest compared with advice to stay active at best has no effect, and at worst may have slightly harmful effects on LBP. There is not an important difference in the effects of bed rest compared with exercises in the treatment of acute low back pain, or 7 days compared with 2–3 days of bed rest in patients with low back pain of different durations with and without radiating pain..

Does it work in the long term?—A systematic review on pelvic floor muscle training for female stress urinary incontinence†‡

There is level 1, grade A evidence that pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) is effective in treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI), but long‐term outcome has been questioned. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the long‐term outcome of PFMT for female SUI.

Postpartum pelvic floor muscle training and urinary incontinence: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether postpartum pelvic floor muscle training decrease prevalence of any urinary incontinence (UI) in primiparous women with and without UI at inclusion (mixed population) and further to perform stratified analyses on women with and without major levator ani muscle defects. METHODS: A two-armed assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial including primiparous women 6 weeks after vaginal delivery was conducted. Participants were stratified on major levator ani muscle defects, verified by transperineal ultrasonography, and thereafter randomly allocated to training or control. All participants were taught to contract the pelvic floor muscles. The control participants received no further intervention, whereas training participants attended a weekly supervised pelvic floor muscle training class and performed daily home exercise for 16 weeks. Primary outcome was self-reported UI analyzed by relative risk. RESULTS: We included 175 women, 55 with major levator ani muscle defects and 120 without. Prevalence of UI at baseline was 39.1% in the training group (n=87) and 50% among those in the control group (n=88). Fifteen women (8.6%) were lost to follow-up. At 6 months after delivery (postintervention), 34.5% and 38.6% reported UI in the training and control groups, respectively. Relative risk analysis of UI gave a nonsignificant effect size of 0.89 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.60–1.32). Results were similar for the stratum with and without major levator ani muscle defects, 0.89 (95% CI 0.51–1.56) and 0.90 (95% CI 0.53–1.52), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Postpartum pelvic floor training did not decrease UI prevalence 6 months after delivery in primiparous women. Stratified analysis on women with and without major levator ani muscle defects showed similar nonsignificant results. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, www.clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01069484. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: I

Impact of childbirth and mode of delivery on vaginal resting pressure and on pelvic floor muscle strength and endurance.

OBJECTIVE We sought to study impact of delivery mode on vaginal resting pressure (VRP) and on pelvic floor muscle (PFM) strength and endurance, and whether these measurements differed in women with and without urinary incontinence. STUDY DESIGN We conducted a cohort study following 277 nulliparous women from midpregnancy to 6 weeks postpartum. Manometer was used for PFM measurements; differences were analyzed by t test (within groups) and analysis of variance (between groups). RESULTS Only VRP changed significantly (10% reduction, P = .001) after emergency cesarean section. After normal and instrumental vaginal delivery, VRP was reduced by 29% and 30%; PFM strength by 54% and 66%; and endurance by 53% and 65%, respectively. Significant differences for all PFM measures (P < .001) were found when comparing cesarean vs normal and instrumental vaginal delivery, respectively. Urinary continent women at both time points had significantly higher PFM strength and endurance than incontinent counterparts (P < .05). CONCLUSION Pronounced reductions in VRP and in PFM strength and endurance were found after vaginal delivery. Continent women were stronger than incontinent counterparts.

Postpartum recovery of levator hiatus and bladder neck mobility in relation to pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: To study postpartum changes in pelvic floor morphology in a cohort of primiparous women. METHODS: Transperineal ultrasound measurements taken at five examination points, both prepartum and postpartum, provided data for comparison. Three hundred nulliparous pregnant women were examined at 21 weeks of gestation and 274 (91%) at 37 weeks of gestation. At 6 weeks postpartum, 285 (95%) women were examined, 198 (66%) at 6 months, and 178 (59%) at 12 months using transperineal ultrasonography at rest, during contraction, and during Valsalva maneuver. The levator hiatus area, bladder neck mobility, and rest-to-Valsalva hiatal area difference were assessed. RESULTS: Approximately 85% had vaginal and 15% had cesarean deliveries. Demographic characteristics of the patients lost to follow-up were similar to the patients not lost to follow-up. In the vaginal group, a significant decrease in all measurements was seen during the first 6 months postpartum, being most pronounced for the levator hiatus area during Valsalva maneuver (−3.5 cm2; P<.001). In the cesarean delivery group, no significant changes between examination points were found postpartum. Only the vaginal delivery group showed significant increases in all measurements when comparing the status at 12 months postpartum with 21 weeks of gestation, most pronounced for levator hiatus area during Valsalva maneuver (3 cm2; P<.001). However, comparing the two delivery groups at 12 months postpartum, the only significant difference found was levator hiatus area during contraction. CONCLUSION: The levator ani muscle has the ability to recover after pregnancy and delivery, although not all women recover to pregnancy level. Most of the recovery occurs during the first 6 months postpartum. Significant pregnancy-induced changes are not shown to persist 1 year postpartum. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II

Pelvic floor muscle injuries 6 weeks post partum-an intra- and inter-rater study.

To evaluate intra‐ and inter‐rater reliability when diagnosing major defects, and inter‐rater reliability of diagnosing minor defects and muscle thickness of the pubovisceral muscle in primiparous women 6 weeks after vaginal delivery, using 3D/4D transperineal ultrasound.

The levator ani muscle during pregnancy and major levator ani muscle defects diagnosed postpartum: a three- and four-dimensional transperineal ultrasound study

To investigate associations between levator hiatus area and levator ani muscle function during pregnancy and major levator ani muscle defects postpartum.

Diastasis recti abdominis during pregnancy and 12 months after childbirth: prevalence, risk factors and report of lumbopelvic pain

Background/aim Diastasis recti abdominis (DRA) is defined as a separation of the 2 muscle bellies of rectus abdominis. To date there is scant knowledge on prevalence, risk factors, and consequences of the condition. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of DRA during pregnancy and post partum, presence of possible risk factors, and the occurrence of lumbopelvic pain among women with and without DRA. Methods This prospective cohort study followed 300 first-time pregnant women from pregnancy till 12 months post partum. Data were collected by electronic questionnaire and clinical examinations. DRA was defined as a palpated separation of ≥2 fingerbreadths either 4.5 cm above, at or 4.5 cm below the umbilicus. Women with and without DRA were compared with independent samples Students t-test and χ2/Fisher exact test, and OR with significance level >0.05. Results Prevalence of DRA was 33.1%, 60.0%, 45.4%, and 32.6% at gestation week 21, 6 weeks, 6 months and 12 months post partum, respectively. No difference in risk factors was found when comparing women with and without DRA. OR showed a greater likelihood for DRA among women reporting heavy lifting ≥20 times weekly (OR 2.18 95% CI 1.05 to 4.52). There was no difference in reported lumbopelvic pain (p=0.10) in women with and without DRA. Conclusions Prevalence of mild DRA was high both during pregnancy and after childbirth. Women with and without DRA reported the same amount of lumbopelvic pain 12 months post partum.

Effect of postpartum pelvic floor muscle training on vaginal symptoms and sexual dysfunction—secondary analysis of a randomised trial

Evaluate effect of pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) on vaginal symptoms and sexual matters, dyspareunia and coital incontinence in primiparous women stratified by major or no defects of the levator ani muscle.