Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Advertisement

Scientific Reports
  • View all journals
  • Search
  • My Account Login
  • Content Explore content
  • About the journal
  • Publish with us
  • Sign up for alerts
  • RSS feed
  1. nature
  2. scientific reports
  3. articles
  4. article
Multiparametric comparative assessment of surgical efficacy in patients with SUI and POP versus normal controls
Download PDF
Download PDF
  • Article
  • Open access
  • Published: 15 January 2026

Multiparametric comparative assessment of surgical efficacy in patients with SUI and POP versus normal controls

  • Daoming Tian1 na1,
  • Qian Luo1 na1,
  • Xingqi Wang1,
  • Yubin Wen1,
  • Yuan Li1,
  • Jiangna Gu1,
  • Hongcheng Li1,
  • Jihong Shen1 &
  • …
  • Ling Li1 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

  • 423 Accesses

  • Metrics details

We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Anatomy
  • Diseases
  • Medical research
  • Urology

Abstract

To evaluate the anatomical outcomes of transobturator tension-free sling combined with posterior pelvic reconstruction in patients with stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging. This study included 50 women with stage II POP and SUI who underwent the combined surgery, along with 10 matched healthy controls. Preoperative and postoperative pelvic floor morphology was assessed via MRI, measuring parameters including perineal body area, urethral length, levator hiatus dimensions, vaginal angles, and spatial coordinates of key anatomical landmarks. Postoperative MRI demonstrated significant restoration of pelvic floor anatomy: perineal body area increased (572.84 ± 90.42 mm² vs. preoperative 306.24 ± 90.33 mm², P < 0.001), urethral length extended (37.89 ± 4.70 mm vs. 31.58 ± 4.12 mm, P < 0.001), and levator hiatus parameters normalized. Vaginal axial deviations and landmark coordinates were effectively corrected, showing statistical improvement compared to preoperative values (P < 0.05) and restoration to levels comparable with controls. The TOT combined with posterior pelvic reconstruction effectively restores pelvic floor anatomy and biomechanical balance, providing an objective imaging basis for the anatomical restoration achieved by this procedure in treating SUI with POP.

Similar content being viewed by others

Association of post-operative transperineal ultrasound parameters with de novo stress urinary incontinence following transvaginal mesh surgery

Article Open access 26 May 2025

Upright and supine assessment of pelvic floor muscle defects in women with and without prolapse

Article Open access 17 January 2026

Analysing the support mechanisms of the vaginal ring pessary on supine and upright MRI

Article Open access 28 December 2024

Data availability

The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

References

  1. Beketie, E. D. et al. Symptomatic pelvic floordisorders and its associated factors in South-Central Ethiopia. PLoSOne 16, e0254050. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254050 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Wu, J. M. et al. Prevalence and trends of symptomatic pelvic floordisorders in U.S. women. Obstet. Gynecol. 123, 141–148 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  3. aekel, A. K., Kirschner-Hermanns, R. & Knüpfer, S. C. Diagnostik der weiblichen harninkontinenz: Dos and dontʼs. Aktuelle Urologie. 52 (03), 237–244. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-1492-5287 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Good, M. M. & Solomon, E. R. Pelvic floor disorders. Obstet. Gynecol. Clin. N. Am. 46 (3), 527–540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ogc.2019.04.010 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  5. European Association of Urology. 2025 EAU Guidelines on Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS): Pelvic Organ Prolapse and LUTS. https://uroweb.org/guidelines (EAU Guidelines Office, 2025).

  6. Urogynecology Subgroup, Chinese Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chinese Medical Association. Chinese guideline for the diagnosis and management of pelvic organ prolapse (2020 version) [in Chinese]. Zhonghua Fu Chan Ke Za Zhi 55(5), 300–306. https://doi.org/10.3760/cma.j.cn112141-20200106-00016 (2020).

  7. van der Steen, A. et al. POP-Q versus upright MRI distance measurements: A prospective study in patients with POP. INT. UROGYNECOL. J. 35 (6), 1255–1261. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-024-05802-7 (2024).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Tian, D. et al. A comparative study on the clinical efficacy of simple transobturator midurethal sling and posterior pelvic floor reconstruction. Medicina-Lithuania 59 (1). https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina59010155 (2023).

  9. DeLancey, J. O. et al. Functional anatomy of urogenital hiatus closure: the perineal complex triad hypothesis. Int Urogynecol J 35 (2), 441–449. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-023-05708-w (2024).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Wang Xuelian, D. H. The diagnostic value of Three-Dimensional pelvic floor ultrasound and glazer pelvic floor surface electromyography in postpartum stress urinary incontinence. Chin. J. Med. Phys. 41 (08), 987–991 (2024).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Betschart, C. et al. Comparison of muscle fiber directions between different levator ani muscle subdivisions: in vivo MRI measurements in women. Int Urogynecol J 25 (9), 1263–1268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-014-2395-9 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Venema, P. L. et al. The female urethral closure mechanism during physical stress. Neurourol Urodynam.. 43 (7), 1647–1654. https://doi.org/10.1002/nau.25489 (2024).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Shin, Y. S. et al. Clinical significance of anatomical urethral length on stress urinary incontinence women. Int. J. Womens Health. 10, 337–340. https://doi.org/10.2147/IJWH.S161672 (2018).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Muctar, S. et al. Functional anatomy of the female pelvic floor: interdisciplinary continence and pelvic floor surgery. Urologe 50 (7), 785–791. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00120-011-2605-8 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  15. DeLancey, J. O. Structural support of the urethra as it relates to stress urinary incontinence: The hammock hypothesis. Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 170(6), 1713-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0002-9378(94)70346-9 (1994) (discussion 1720-3).

  16. Li, S. et al. Comparison of the axes and positions of the uterus and vagina between women with and without pelvic floor organ prolapse. Front. Surg. 9, 760723. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsurg.2022.760723 (2022).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Kent. Finite element analysis of urinary bladder wall thickness at different pressure condition. J. Mech. Med. Biol. 19(5) (2019).

  18. Petros. Bladder neck funneling in stress incontinence is mediated by posterior muscle forces, not abdominal pressure. Neurourol. Urodyn. 42, 6 (2023).

  19. CAI. Clinical value of transperineal ultrasound in evaluating the effects of different delivery methods on the primipara pelvic floor structure and function. Sci. Rep. 14, 23980 (2024).

  20. Li, M. et al. MR defecography in assessing functional defecation disorder: diagnostic value of the defecation phase in detection of dyssynergic defecation and pelvic floor prolapse in females. Digestion 100 (2), 109–116. https://doi.org/10.1159/000494249 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  21. Chen, L., Ashton-Miller, J. A. & DeLancey, J. O. L. A 3D finite element model of anterior vaginal wall support to evaluate mechanisms underlying cystocele formation. J. Biomech. 42 (10), 1371–1377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2009.04.043 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Barnhart, K. T. et al. Baseline dimensions of the human vagina. Hum. Reprod. 21 (6), 1618–1622. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/del022 (2006).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Kumar. Does conventional defecography has a role to play in evaluation of evacuatory disorders in Indian population? Indian J. Radiol. Imaging 23(1) (2013).

  24. Haylen, B. T. & Vu, D. Surgical anatomy of the vaginal vault. Neurourol Urodynam. 41 (6), 1316–1322. https://doi.org/10.1002/nau.24963 (2022).

    Google Scholar 

  25. Boreham, M. K., Wai, C. Y., Miller, R. T., Schaffer, J. I. & Word, R. A. Morphometric properties of the posterior vaginal wall in women with pelvic organ prolapse. Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 187(6), 1501-8, discussion 1508-9. https://doi.org/10.1067/mob.2002.130005 (2002).

  26. Lin, W. et al. The role of obstetric Factors, miRNA-30d and miRNA-181a in postpartum women with pelvic organ prolapse. Risk Manag Healthc. Policy. 13, 2309–2316 (2020). PMID: 33149711; PMCID: PMC7604264.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Easley, D. C., Abramowitch, S. D. & Moalli, P. A. May. Female pelvic floor biomechanics: Bridging the gap. Curr. Opin. Urol. 27(3), 262–267. https://doi.org/10.1097/MOU.0000000000000380 (2017).

  28. DeLancey, J. O. et al. A unified pelvic floor conceptual model for studying morphological changes with prolapse, age, and parity. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 230 (5), 476–484e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2023.11.1247 (2023).

    Google Scholar 

  29. Xue, X. et al. The influence of the combined impairments and apical mesh surgery on the biomechanical behavior of the pelvic floor system. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 11, 1292407. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2023.1292407 (2024).

    Google Scholar 

  30. Ashton-Miller, J. A. & DeLancey, J. O. Functional Anatomy of the Female Pelvic Floor . Vol. 1101. 266–296 (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2007).

  31. Bø, K. et al. Strenuous physical activity, exercise, and pelvic organ prolapse: A narrative scoping review. Int Urogynecol J. 34 (6), 1153–1164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-023-05450-3 (2023).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This study was supported by the “Xingdian Talents” Support Project of Yunnan Province: No. RL2024SJH; National Natural Science Foundation of China: No. 82260297; Yunnan Provincial Key Research and Development (R&D) Program: No. 202502AA310034.

Author information

Author notes
  1. Daoming Tian and Qian Luo contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Urology Department, Kunming Medical University First Affiliated Hospital, Kunming, China

    Daoming Tian, Qian Luo, Xingqi Wang, Yubin Wen, Yuan Li, Jiangna Gu, Hongcheng Li, Jihong Shen & Ling Li

Authors
  1. Daoming Tian
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Qian Luo
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xingqi Wang
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yubin Wen
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yuan Li
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jiangna Gu
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Hongcheng Li
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Jihong Shen
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Ling Li
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Conceptualization: D.T. and L.L.; methodology: D.T., Q.L.and L.L.; data collection,:X.W., Y.W., Y.L., J.G., H.L. and J.S.; writing—original draft preparation: D.T. and Q.L.; writing—review and editing: L.L.; supervision: L.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ling Li.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by Institutional Review Board of The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University [IRB No. (2022) Ethical Review L No. 332022.04.27].

Informed consent

All participants included in this study provided their informed consent.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tian, D., Luo, Q., Wang, X. et al. Multiparametric comparative assessment of surgical efficacy in patients with SUI and POP versus normal controls. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35587-2

Download citation

  • Received: 23 October 2025

  • Accepted: 07 January 2026

  • Published: 15 January 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35587-2

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

Keywords

  • Stress urinary incontinence
  • Pelvic organ prolapse
  • Transobturator tension-free sling
  • Stress injury
  • Magnetic resonance imaging
Download PDF

Associated content

Collection

Women’s Health

Advertisement

Explore content

  • Research articles
  • News & Comment
  • Collections
  • Subjects
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Sign up for alerts
  • RSS feed

About the journal

  • About Scientific Reports
  • Contact
  • Journal policies
  • Guide to referees
  • Calls for Papers
  • Editor's Choice
  • Journal highlights
  • Open Access Fees and Funding

Publish with us

  • For authors
  • Language editing services
  • Open access funding
  • Submit manuscript

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

  • Explore articles by subject
  • Find a job
  • Guide to authors
  • Editorial policies

Scientific Reports (Sci Rep)

ISSN 2045-2322 (online)

nature.com sitemap

About Nature Portfolio

  • About us
  • Press releases
  • Press office
  • Contact us

Discover content

  • Journals A-Z
  • Articles by subject
  • protocols.io
  • Nature Index

Publishing policies

  • Nature portfolio policies
  • Open access

Author & Researcher services

  • Reprints & permissions
  • Research data
  • Language editing
  • Scientific editing
  • Nature Masterclasses
  • Research Solutions

Libraries & institutions

  • Librarian service & tools
  • Librarian portal
  • Open research
  • Recommend to library

Advertising & partnerships

  • Advertising
  • Partnerships & Services
  • Media kits
  • Branded content

Professional development

  • Nature Awards
  • Nature Careers
  • Nature Conferences

Regional websites

  • Nature Africa
  • Nature China
  • Nature India
  • Nature Japan
  • Nature Middle East
  • Privacy Policy
  • Use of cookies
  • Legal notice
  • Accessibility statement
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Your US state privacy rights
Springer Nature

© 2026 Springer Nature Limited

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing