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Objectives: To understand the function of the pelvic floor muscles (PFM) at different ages in healthy women and in puerperal women with pelvic floor dysfunctions (PFD) and to ascertain whether there are differences among them., Material and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between June 2014 and September 2016 and included 177 women, 70 of whom had no symptoms of PFD, 53 primiparous mothers in late postpartum and 54 with PFD. The function of the PFM was measured through vaginal palpation (quality of the contraction); manometry (force); dynamometer (tone, strength, and response to stretching), and surface electromyography (neuromuscular activity and resistance)., Results: The healthy women showed superior values for PFM tone, maximum strength, neuromuscular activity and resistance than the puerperal mothers and the women with PFD (P<.01). The puerperal women and those with PFD showed similar functional PFM values (P>.05). The muscle function of the healthy women did not vary significantly with age, except in the case of tone, which was lower in the women older than 46 years (P=.004)., Conclusions: Age and births decrease the baseline tone of the PFM in healthy women. Therefore, lower strength, resistance and neuromuscular activity appear to be the main difference between the PFM of women with PFD and the PFM of healthy women., (Copyright © 2016 AEU. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Pelvic floor prolapse is a frequent condition in the woman, which in addition to anatomical alterations, may cause lower urinary tract dysfunction. We intend to verify the alterations of the micturation phase in patients with pelvic prolapse., Material and Methods: A cross-sectional cut off study was performed in a series of 102 women, mean age 66.8 years (standard deviation 9.6 years), diagnosed of urinary obstruction and pelvic prolapse and a prospective longitudinal study in a cohort of 21 patients of the previous series operated on for the prolapse. The patients were subjected to clinical examinations to determine the type and grade of public prolapse and to a urodynamic study., Results: A significant direct correlation was observed between the grade of cystocele and uterine prolapse and a significant correlation, but in inverse sense, between the grade of uterine prolapse and that of the enterocele. The patients with a greater grade of uterine prolapse had greater urethral resistance by the URA parameter. A tendency towards significance regarding the postsurgical variation of the Urethral Resistance Average (URA) that decreased after the surgery, and the W80-20 (detrusor contractility), that increased after it, was observed., Conclusions: Pelvic prolapses affect the micturation phase. This involvement occurs both in the case of the cystoceles as well as in uterine prolapses and in the posterior compartments (rectocele and enterocele). Furthermore, an improvement is observed in the bladder contractility with the surgery of the pelvic prolapse., (Copyright © 2011 AEU. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.)