Evaluation on levator ani muscle injuries after vaginal delivery with MRI / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the MRI finding of female normal levator ani muscle and the levator ani muscle injuries and to evaluate the correlation between childbirth and levator ani muscle injuries. Methods One hundred asymptomatic nulliparous women(control group)and 200 vaginally primiparous women(study group)were selected as the object of this study.Moreover,the study group was divided into two subgroupsgroup A(100 cases)with stress incontinence,group B(100 cases)without clinical symptoms.Multiplanar proton density magnetic resonance images were obtained at 0.5 cm intervals from these study individuals.All images were used to analyze the differentiation of MRI features between normal levator ani muscle and levator ani muscle injuries.Results No levator ani injuries were identified in the control group.Fifty-four primiparous women(27%)had visible injuries in their levator ani muscles,42 in group A and 12 in group B.Injuries were identified in the puborectalis muscle in 49 cases and in the iliococeygeus muscle in 5 cases(X~2=41.447,P