Systematic Review: The Role of Pelvic Floor Muscles Dysfunction in Constipation

Purpose: Pelvic floor muscle dysfunction is a common cause of constipation. This dysfunction does not respond to current treatments of constipation. Thus, it is important to identify this type of dysfunction and the role of these muscles in constipation. The purpose of the present study was to review the previously published studies concerning the role of pelvic floor muscles dysfunction in constipation and related assessment methods. Methods: Articles were obtained by searching in several databases including, Elsevier, Science Direct, ProQuest, Google scholar, and PubMed. The keywords that were used were ‘constipation,’ ‘functional constipation,’ and ‘pelvic floor dysfunction.’ Inclusion criteria included articles that were published in English from 1980 to 2013. A total of 100 articles were obtained using the mentioned keywords that among them articles about constipation, its definition, types, methods of assessment, and diagnosis were reviewed. Of these articles, 12 articles were related to the assessment procedures and pelvic floor muscle function in constipation. Results: The overall outcome of the studies provided sufficient evidence indicating the role of pelvic floor muscle dysfunction in constipation. Conclusion: Therefore, attention to this cause is effective in recovery process of these patients. There isn’t agreement to better assessment method. It seems that manometry is a good way in the medical field and palpation as an acceptable procedure can be used in rehabilitation field.