Effects of Perineal Massage (PERMAS)

Plain-language summary

Perineal massage increases elasticity of myofascial perineal tissue and decreases the burning and perineal pain during labour, thus optimizing child birth, although an application protocol has not been standardized yet. The objective of this non-randomized controlled trial is to determine the efficiency of massage in perineal tear and urinary incontinence prevention and identification of possible differences in massage application. The sample target is to exceed 75 women analysed between January and May 2020. The interventions include: (a) perineal massage and EPI-NO® device group, applied by an expert physiotherapist; (b) self-massage group, where women were instructed to apply perineal massage in domestic household; and (c) a control group, which received ordinary obstetric attention. Approval for the study was obtained through the Ethics Committee of the University of Leon (code: ETICA-ULE-021-2018). All participants signed an informed consent form, in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (rev. 2013), and had the option to revoke their participation in the study at any time. Ethical regulations were respected as well as the Spanish Law for Protection Data Organic Law and for Biomedical Research in Human Participants. Data collection took place during an evaluation session on the fifth- or sixth- postpartum week through a self-reported form where participants registered the characteristics of delivery (gestation week, baby's weight, duration and posture of delivery, tear, episiotomy, use of equipment and/or analgesia). The form also included a question on intensity of perineal pain at the time of evaluation (quantified by visual analogue scale) and and urinary incontinence incidence through ICIQ-SF (punctuation higher than 0) and description (quantity of loss of urine and how this affects to their daily life), identified on the items included on the questionnaire.

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