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Session: NeuroMuscular
Session starts: Thursday 26 January, 14:30
Presentation starts: 15:15
Room: Room 530

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Irina De Alba Alvarez (University of Twente)
Chris de Korte (Radboudumc)
Anique Bellos-Grob (University of Twente)
Shreya Das (Radboudumc)
Frieda van den Noort (University of Twente)

Abstract:
Introduction: The external anal sphincter (EAS) is a pelvic floor muscle (PFM) which, in addition of giving support to the pelvic floor, constricts the anal canal and it is voluntarily relaxed for defecation. Damage in the EAS can lead to clinical conditions like i.e., fecal incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse. A way to evaluate the damaged EAS is measuring its strain. The aim of this research is to evaluate quantitively the displacement and strain of the EAS during a pelvic floor maxima contraction. Method: Five volunteers participated in the study and the data was acquired using the 3D transperineal ultrasound. Data processing was done using the strain software generated by the MUSIC center of the Radboudumc. Result: The software properly gives a quantitative result of the strain and displacement according to the ultrasound images. It was possible to determine the different strain direction and percentage of strain and showed to be different in each volunteer. Discussion: There is a considerable variation between percentage of strain during contractions of all volunteers which can be due to anatomical variations, transducer probe movement and different level of EAS control between volunteers. Bigger sample in the following studies can lead to better understanding of differences in strain between rest and maximal contraction values. These data may be useful to better understand and help clinically assess the structure and function of EAS.