R. C. Bollard
Normal female anal sphincter: difficulties in interpretation explained
Bollard, R. C.; Gardiner, A.; Lindow, S.; Phillips, K.; Duthie, G. S.
Authors
A. Gardiner
S. Lindow
K. Phillips
G. S. Duthie
Abstract
PURPOSE: Our aims were to quantify the nature, characteristics, and frequency of variations in female anal sphincter anatomy. METHODS: Nulliparous patients from the antenatal clinic and healthy volunteers of both genders were studied. Sphincter length was determined by the position of the puborectalis sling. Defects in the external anal sphincter were defined at each level and recorded in degrees. Cylindric longitudinal images of the endoanal scans were created by a three-dimensional-representation software package. Manometry was performed by a pull-through technique. RESULTS: Fifty-seven nulliparous patients and 18 healthy volunteers were included in the study. The mean age was 39 years for males and 28.35 years for females. There was no significant difference in overall sphincter length or in the internal anal sphincter length as a percentage of overall sphincter length between genders. All nine males had a complete ring of external anal sphincter along the full sphincter length. In the external anal sphincter below the level of the puborectalis sling, a natural gap occurred in 43 nulliparous (75 percent) and all 9 female volunteers. The greater the size of the defect, the greater its extent (mean 1.33 cm for > 900° and 1.16 cm for < 90°; chi-squared P = 0.008, eight degrees of freedom). Manometry provided confirmatory evidence of the gaps seen. Anal manometry was analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test for continuous nonparametric data and t-test for comparison between genders. CONCLUSION: The female sphincter has a variable natural defect occurring along its anterior length. This makes interpretation of the isolated endoanal ultrasound difficult and explains previous overreporting of obstetric sphincter defects.
Citation
Bollard, R. C., Gardiner, A., Lindow, S., Phillips, K., & Duthie, G. S. (2002). Normal female anal sphincter: difficulties in interpretation explained. Diseases of the colon & rectum, 45(2), 171-175. doi:10.1007/s10350-004-6139-7
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Feb 28, 2002 |
Publication Date | 2002-02 |
Journal | Diseases of the colon and rectum |
Print ISSN | 0012-3706 |
Publisher | Springer Verlag |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 45 |
Issue | 2 |
Pages | 171-175 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10350-004-6139-7 |
Keywords | anal sphincter, endo-anal ultrasound, |
Public URL | https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/409630 |
PMID | 11852328 |
You might also like
Managing constipation in adults with co-morbidities
(2016)
Journal Article
Constipation: causes, assessment and management
(2013)
Journal Article
The application of rectal irrigation in the management of functional bowel disorders
(2009)
Journal Article
Downloadable Citations
About Repository@Hull
Administrator e-mail: repository@hull.ac.uk
This application uses the following open-source libraries:
SheetJS Community Edition
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
PDF.js
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
Font Awesome
SIL OFL 1.1 (http://scripts.sil.org/OFL)
MIT License (http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html)
CC BY 3.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Powered by Worktribe © 2024
Advanced Search