Abstract
Background
Pelvic floor muscles have potential to influence relative pelvic alignment. Side asymmetry
in pelvic floor muscle tension is claimed to induce pelvic malalignment. However,
its nature and amplitude are not clear. There is a need for non-invasive and reliable
assessment method. An intervention experiment of unilateral pelvic floor muscle activation
on healthy females was performed using image data for intra-subject comparison of
normal and altered configuration of bony pelvis.
Methods
Sequent magnetic resonance imaging of 14 females in supine position was performed
with 1.5 T static body coil in coronal orientation. The intervention, surface functional
electrostimulation, was applied to activate pelvic floor muscles on the right side.
Spatial coordinates of 23 pelvic landmarks were localized in each subject and registered
by specially designed magnetic resonance image data processing tool (MPT2006), where
individual error calculation; data registration, analysis and 3D visualization were
interfaced.
Findings
The effect of intervention was large (Cohen’s d = 1.34). We found significant differences in quantity (P < 0.01) and quality (P = 0.02) of normal and induced pelvic displacements. After pelvic floor muscle activation
on the right side, pelvic structures shifted most frequently to the right side in
ventro-caudal direction. The right femoral head, the right innominate and the coccyx
showed the largest displacements.
Interpretation
The consequences arising from the capacity of pelvic floor muscles to displace pelvic
bony structures are important to consider not only in management of malalignment syndrome
but also in treatment of incontinence. The study has demonstrated benefits associated
with processing of magnetic resonance image data within pelvic region with high localization
and registration reliability.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 28, 2007
Accepted:
July 3,
2007
Received:
January 26,
2007
Identification
Copyright
© 2007 Elsevier Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
