Manual acupuncture plus usual care versus usual care alone in the treatment of endometriosis-related chronic pelvic pain: study protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Endometriosis is the most common cause of chronic pelvic pain worldwide. Non-surgical treatments are effective for only 30-50% of women and have a significant side effect burden that leads to high discontinuation rates. Surgery can be effective but is expensive and invasive, and symptoms tend to recur within 5 years. There is early evidence that acupuncture may be effective in treating endometriosis-related chronic pelvic pain, showing clinically significant analgesia. Both levels of inflammation and pain processing have been shown to be altered in women with chronic pelvic pain. Acupuncture has been shown to reduce inflammation and change central pain processing in other conditions, but research on women with endometriosis is currently lacking. The aim of this feasibili

SUBMITTER: Armour M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5500924 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature