COMPARISON OF THE THICKNESS AND DIFFICULTY OF CONTRACTION OF THE TRANSVERSE ABDOMINAL MUSCLE IN THE ABDOMINAL DRAWING-IN MANEUVER (ADIM) ISOLATED VERSUS ASSOCIATED WITH THERAPEP®: A PILOT STUDY

Abstract

Introduction: the transversus abdominis muscle (TrA) has a fundamental role in the segmental control of lumbosacral spine. Some strategies have been reported to facilitate TrA activation, such as ADIM (abdominal drawing-in maneuver), biofeedback systems or expiration against resistance. The latest, despite being a promising therapy, is still scarcely studied. Objectives: to compare TrA thickness during two contraction techniques, ADIM versus ADIM combined with TheraPEP®, and secondarily, to evaluate the subjective perception of contraction difficulty. Material and method: a cross-sectional pilot study was performed with 11 healthy female volunteers (20.09 2.43 years), who were asked to perform 2 ADIM maneuvers (with/without TheraPEP) in 3 different conditions (static, right leg raise and left leg raise). The thickness of the TrA was evaluated by ultrasound and the perception of difficulty level of contraction with a Likert-type scale. The images were analyzed with AutoCAD software and data analysis with IBM SPSS 22.0 software. Descriptive statistics and comparison of means for related samples were calculated. Results: statistically significant mean differences were observed in Tra contraction fraction in favor of the maneuvers performed with TheraPEP®: ADIM (0.69; p = 0.013), ADIM right leg (0.40; p = 0.026) and ADIM left leg (0.29; p = 0.016). Regarding the perception of contraction difficulty, no significant differences were found between the different maneuvers. Conclusions: TrA thickness increases significantly more in the ADIM maneuver combined with TheraPEP® compared to the ADIM maneuver.