None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The pubic symphysis is a joint at the front of the pelvis that can cause pain during pregnancy and after delivery. This pain is not well understood. In particular, how common it is and how it changes during and after pregnancy are poorly described. The effectiveness of suggested treatments are unknown. This pilot study aimed to trial two types of pelvic belt commonly used in the treatment of symphyseal pain to assess their comfort and symptom relief.
Interventions
Three weeks wear of a wide, flexible neoprene support belt. Participants were shown by a physiotherapist how to wear the belt, aligned over the pubic symphysis and were advised to wear it whenever possible during waking hours. Women were sent daily text messages asking whether pain and function had improved (yes/no/sometimes) and for how many hours they wore the belt for. Weekly phone interviews also monitored adherence, comfort and pain and functional improvement.
Sponsors
Stephanie Woodley
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Pregnant women, at least 18 years of age, whom had experienced pubic symphyseal pain for at least two weeks (which was worse than any concurrent posterior pelvic pain), and had a positive response to at least two of three clinical tests: reproduction of pain from palpation, modified Trendelenburg's test, active straight leg raise test.
Exclusion criteria
Women with a known high-risk pregnancy, a history of major systemic bone disease and/or back or pelvic injury, a medical condition which contraindicated the use of a pelvic support belt (e.g. certain types of placenta previa), or those currently taking steroid medication
Outcome results
None listed