Value of ultrasound shear wave elastography and gray-scale ultrasonography for assessing the bladder neck status of women with stress urinary incontinence.

We aimed to investigate the value of ultrasound shear wave elas-tography (US-SWE) and gray-scale ultrasonography for assessing the bladder neck status of patients with stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Seventy-two puerperal women with SUI treated from February 2022 to September 2023 were selected as a research group, while another 50 healthy pregnant women receiving physical examination in the same period were selected as a control group. US-SWE and gray-scale ultrasonography were performed for all subjects. The height, length, circumference and area of the perineal body at rest and the maximum, as well as the thicknesses and elastic moduli of anterior and posterior lips of the bladder neck, were compared. At the maximum Valsalva maneuver (VM), the research group had higher height, smaller length and area, and shorter circumference of the perineal body than those of the control group (p<0.05). Maternal SUI was positively correlated with the height of the peri-neal body (r>0, p<0.05) but negatively correlated with the length, circumfer-ence and area of the perineal body and the elastic moduli of anterior and poste-rior lips of the bladder neck (r<0, p<0.05). The elastic moduli of the anterior and posterior lips of the bladder neck and the height, length, circumference, and area of the perineal body at the maximum VM were valuable for assessing maternal SUI. US-SWE and gray-scale ultrasonography parameters are closely related to maternal SUI, and the risk of maternal SUI can be assessed early by the bladder neck status.