Abstract
Defecatory disorders can include structural, neurological, and functional disorders
in addition to concomitant symptoms of fecal incontinence, functional anorectal pain,
and pelvic floor dyssynergia. These disorders greatly affect quality of life and healthcare
costs. Treatment for pelvic floor disorders can include medications, botulinum toxin,
surgery, physical therapy, and biofeedback. Pelvic floor muscle training for pelvic
floor disorders aims to enhance strength, speed, and/or endurance or coordination
of voluntary anal sphincter and pelvic floor muscle contractions. Biofeedback therapy
builds on physical therapy by incorporating the use of equipment to record or amplify
activities of the body and feed the information back to the patients. Biofeedback
has demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of chronic constipation with dyssynergic
defecation, fecal incontinence, and low anterior resection syndrome. Evidence for
the use of biofeedback in levator ani syndrome is conflicting. In comparing biofeedback
to pelvic floor muscle training alone, studies suggest that biofeedback is superior
therapy.
Keywords
pelvic floor disorders - biofeedback - pelvic floor muscle training - fecal incontinence
- pelvic floor dyssynergia - anismus
