AIMS: To verify the efficacy of a Pilates exercise program compared to conventional pelvic floor muscle exercise (PFME) protocol in the conservative treatment of post-prostatectomy urinary incontinence (PPUI).
METHODS: Baseline assessment was performed four weeks postoperatively and included 24 hr pad test, bladder diary, and the ICIQ-SF. Patients were randomised into three groups: Pilates (G1), PFME combined with anal electrical stimulation (G2), and a control group (G3). Both treatment groups had to perform 10 weekly treatment sessions. Primary outcomes were mean reduction of daily pads and mean reduction of ICIQ-SF score four months after surgery. The significance level was set at P < 0.05.
RESULTS: 85 patients completed the study. Differences between treatment groups (G1 and G2) in terms of mean reduction in daily pad usage, 24 hr pad test, and ICIQ-SF scores were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The control group differed from G1 in daily pad usage (P = 0.01) and ICIQ-SF score (P = 0.0073). Intergroup comparisons revealed that 57.7% of the volunteers in G1 and 50% of the individuals from G2 no longer used pads by the end of the treatment period (P = 0.57). In the control group, 22.6% were not using pads four months after surgery, with statistical difference compared to G1 (P < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: The Pilates exercise program proved to be as effective as conventional PFME to speed up continence recovery in PPUI. It also achieved a higher rate of fully continent patients when compared to the control group in the short-term.
Written by:
Pedriali FR, Gomes CS, Soares L, Urbano MR, Moreira EC, Averbeck MA, de Almeida SH. Are you the author?
Center for Health Sciences, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, Parana, Brazil.
Reference: Neurourol Urodyn. 2015 Mar 21. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1002/nau.22761
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 25809925