Magnetic resonance imaging assessed enteric motility and luminal content analysis in patients with severe bloating and visible distension.

Background: Gastrointestinal symptoms in functional gut disorders occur without any discernible structural gut abnormality. Preliminary observations on enteric MRI suggest possible abnormal content and motility of the terminal ileum (TI) in constipation-predominant IBS (IBS-C) with severe bloating, and in functional bloating and distension (FABD) patients. We investigated whether MRI can quantify differences in small bowel (SB) content and motility between patients and healthy controls (HCs).

Investigation of optimal cues to instruction for pelvic floor muscle contraction: a pilot study using 2D ultrasound imaging in pre-menopausal, nulliparous, continent women.

Aims: Optimal urethrovesical positioning (UVP) may be important for continence. Pelvic floor muscle contraction (PFMC) influences UVP. PFMC instruction cues vary and often encourage anterior PFM recruitment that may result in sub-maximal posterior facilitation.

Organising a clinical service for patients with pelvic floor disorders.

The evolution of the multidisciplinary approach to the management of chronic conditions is a reflection of how medicine has evolved from a singular to a plural effort recognising the complex causations and consequences of such disorders. This thinking should not be confined to tertiary centres alone and should be adapted where local expertise is available. Such an approach is especially important in pelvic floor disorders, where the correlation between structure and function is not always straightforward.

Constipation and evacuation disorders.

Constipation and evacuation difficulty symptoms are common in the general populace. The ROME III criteria define the latter as a subset of the former. Constipation and defaecatory symptoms rarely occur in isolation and can often form part of a global pelvic floor problem, involving bladder voiding difficulties, sexual dysfunction and pain syndromes.