The impairment of female pelvic ligaments and its relation with pelvic floor dysfunction: Biomechanical analysis

Abstract

Computational simulation of degeneration or damage on the structures that sustain the female pelvic organs may point to how they behave in real-life conditions. This work evaluated the effect of the impairment of female pelvic ligaments by means of numerical simulation considering rest and valsalva maneuver conditions. The model included the pelvic organs and several support structures, identified on magnetic resonance images from a young healthy female. For each tissue, material properties were obtained in the literature, and the best constitutive model was chosen for each structure. The displacement of the pelvic organs was assessed for normal ligaments, and also when their impairment was simulated by individually reducing their stiffness. The pelvic organs evidenced increased displacement when considering the damaged ligaments, similarly to what was found in previous imaging evidence. This model was suited for assessing ligaments damage. This is an important issue when simulating aging or trauma of the pelvic support structures.