Study on the influence of the fetus head molding on the biomechanical behavior of the pelvic floor muscles, during vaginal delivery

• Tipo: Artigo em Revista Científica Internacional
• Data: 2015

Autores

Silva, MET (Autor) Outra; Oliveira, DA (Autor) Outra; Roza, TH (Autor) Outra; Brandao, S (Autor) Outra; Parente, MPL (Autor) FEUP; mascarenhas, t (Autor) FMUP; Renato Natal Jorge (Autor) FEUP

Revista

Título: Journal of Biomechanics

Vol. 48

Páginas: 1600-1605

ISSN: 0021-9290

Editora: Elsevier

Indexação

ISI Web of Knowledge - 29 Citações

Scopus - 29 Citações

Outras Informações

ID Authenticus: P-00G-B58

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2015.02.032

Abstract (EN): Pelvic floor injuries during vaginal delivery are considered a significant risk factor to develop pelvic floor dysfunction. The molding of the fetus head during vaginal delivery facilitates the labor progress, since it adjusts to the birth canal geometry. In this work, a finite element model was used to represent the effects induced by the passage of the fetus head on the pelvic floor. The numerical model used for this simulation included the pelvic floor muscles attached to the bones, and a fetus body. The model of the fetus head included the skin and soft tissues, the skull with sutures and fontanelles, and the brain. The fetus head movements during birth in vertex position were simulated: descent, internal rotation and extension. Two models of the fetus head were compared: a rigid and a deformable one, with the inclusion of the cranial sutures. The influence of the fetus head molding on the pelvic floor muscles was analyzed by evaluating their reaction forces, stretch, and stress and strain fields. Additionally, anatomical indices for the molding of the fetal skull were obtained and compared with clinical data. The passage of the deformable fetus head through the birth canal leads to a reduction of 173% on the reaction forces on the pelvic floor muscles when compared to the ones of a rigid head. Furthermore, the fetus head molding implies inferior resistance to rotation resulting in a reduction of 1.86% in muscle stretching. Quantitative evaluation of the fetus head molding showed good agreement with clinical experiments.

Idioma: Inglês

Tipo (Avaliação Docente): Científica

Nº de páginas: 6