Aims: Pubovisceral (PV) muscle tears are associated with pelvic floor disorders. The goal of this study was to determine whether index finger palpatory assessment of PV muscle body integrity through the lateral vaginal wall is a reliable indicator of PV muscle tear severity diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Methods: We studied 85 women, 7 weeks after vaginal birth. All had at least one risk factor for obstetric-related PV muscle tear. The ordinal outcome measure of MRI-documented PV muscle tear was defined as: none, less than 50% unilateral tear, 50% or greater unilateral tear or less than 50% bilateral tear, and 50% or greater bilateral tear. PV muscle body integrity by palpatory assessment was scored on a matrix, with each side scored independently and classified as PV muscle body "present" (assuredly felt), "equivocal" (not sure if felt), or "absent" (assuredly not felt). Proportional odds models were constructed to estimate the relationship between PV muscle body integrity palpatory assessment and MRI-documented PV muscle tears.
Results: Thirty-five percent of study participants exhibited varying degrees of MRI-documented PV muscle tears. Using palpatory assessment, we identified "PV muscle body present bilaterally" in 20%, "equivocal unilaterally or present contralaterally" in 8%, "equivocal or absent unilaterally" or "equivocal bilaterally" in 62%, and "absent bilaterally" in 9%. The odds ratio for estimating MRI results from palpatory assessment was 3.62 (95% confidence interval = 1.70-7.73, P = 0.001).
Conclusions: A rapid and inexpensive palpatory assessment in the clinic was highly associated with the risk of MRI-documented PV muscle tear and is a useful component of a clinical assessment.
Keywords: birth injuries; levator ani tear; muscle evaluation; palpation; pelvic floor muscles; physical assessment; postpartum women.
© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.