Sexual Health in Pelvic Floor Disorders: Bridging Gaps Across Mechanisms, Interventions, and Care Models

Sexual health is a fundamental component of overall well-being and quality of life, yet it remains substantially under-assessed and insufficiently integrated into clinical decision-making for patients with pelvic floor disorders (PFDs). Despite the high prevalence of sexual dysfunction in conditions such as pelvic organ prolapse, urinary incontinence, chronic pelvic pain, and neuro-urological disorders, including male pelvic floor disorders and sexual dysfunction following prostate or pelvic cancer treatment, as well as pelvic floor changes associated with pregnancy, vaginal birth, and menopause, sexual outcomes are still rarely included as primary endpoints in clinical trials and are often overlooked in routine care pathways.This persistent gap reflects a broader fragmentation in the management of PFDs, where surgical, conservative, and rehabilitative approaches are frequently considered in isolation rather than as components of a coordinated, patient-centered strategy. As a result, the complex interplay of anatomical, neurological, psychological, and relational factors underlying sexual function remains insufficiently addressed, including in populations that may face additional barriers to care, such as individuals living with physical or neurological disabilities, and women navigating major reproductive life transitions such as pregnancy, vaginal delivery, and the menopausal transition.Looking forward, emerging developments, including digital therapeutics, remote monitoring technologies, and personalized care models, offer promising opportunities to better assess, monitor, and manage sexual health outcomes in this population. At the same time, evolving clinical practice must confront important trade-offs and ongoing controversies, such as the balance between continence and preservation of sexual function, particularly in surgical and post-oncologic settings.This Research Topic aims to provide a comprehensive and forward-looking perspective on sexual health in PFDs, with particular attention to integrated and multidisciplinary care across different clinical contexts, including post-surgical, post-oncologic, and peripartum and menopausal populations.We welcome contributions across the following thematic areas:• Mechanisms and Pathophysiology: Understanding the biological, neurological, and psychosocial determinants of sexual dysfunction in PFDs, including the mechanisms and pathophysiology underlying pelvic floor and sexual health changes driven by pregnancy, vaginal birth, and menopause.• Interventions and Therapeutic Innovations: Surgical techniques, conservative therapies, rehabilitation strategies, regenerative medicine, and emerging digital or technology-assisted interventions.• Care Models and Outcome Assessment: Multidisciplinary approaches, shared decision-making, patient-reported outcomes, integration of sexual health into clinical decision-making, and innovative monitoring strategies (including remote and personalized care).• Special Populations and Clinical Contexts: Post-surgical and post-oncologic patients, individuals with disabilities (including neurological and mobility impairments), women during pregnancy and following vaginal birth, and women in the menopausal transition, as well as other underrepresented or high-risk groups.• Clinical Trade-offs and Controversies: Decision-making challenges and competing priorities in treatment (e.g., continence vs. sexual function), including ethical and patient-centered considerations.By fostering a more structured, integrative, and future-oriented dialogue, this collection seeks to generate clinically actionable evidence and promote more systematic integration of sexual health into the assessment and management of pelvic floor disorders, across the full span of reproductive and post-reproductive life stages. Topic editors: Marilena Gubbiotti, Laura Pelizzari Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81520/sexual-health-in-pelvic-floor-disorders-bridging-gaps-across-mechanisms-interventions-and-care-models