None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Persistent pelvic pain is often associated with endometriosis. Treatment for endometriosis has previously focused on surgery and hormonal medications. Some women continue to experience pain despite this treatment. Tenderness and increased contraction/ tightness in the pelvic floor muscles is thought to be related to pelvic pain. It is unknown how many women with endometriosis also have tenderness and tightness in the pelvic floor muscles. A larger observational study is planned to address this question. This study will investigate how well gynaecologists and physiotherapists are able to detect pelvic floor muscle tenderness and tension, so that clinicians can better identify which women may have these pelvic floor muscle problems and receive appropriate treatment. Women who agree to participate in this study will fill out a questionnaire and attend one of the hospitals involved in this study. They will see a gynaecologist and a physiotherapist who will both assess their pelvic floor muscles to see if they have any tenderness or tension in the muscles. Pelvic floor muscle assessment is measured with an internal vaginal examination. The tests are common clinical procedures for any type of pelvic floor problem and best practice guidelines to ensure comfort and safety will be followed. The questionnaire and assessments are done before the woman has surgery. The findings of the examination from the gynaecologist and the physiotherapist will be compared to assess the reliability of the examination.
Interventions
Patient's booked to undergo laparoscopy for investigation of persistent pelvic pain will be asked to have their pelvic floor muscle (PFM) tone and tenderness assessed pre-operatively. A digital examination of the PFM will be performed by a gynaecologist and a physiotherapist and the inter-rater reliability determined. These assessments by the gynaecologist and physiotherapist will be performed sequentially in the same visit. The physiotherapist will also use algometry devices to objectively asse
Patient's booked to undergo laparoscopy for investigation of persistent pelvic pain will be asked to have their pelvic floor muscle (PFM) tone and tenderness assessed pre-operatively. A digital examination of the PFM will be performed by a gynaecologist and a physiotherapist and the inter-rater reliability determined. These assessments by the gynaecologist and physiotherapist will be performed sequentially in the same visit. The physiotherapist will also use algometry devices to objectively assess the PFM tone and tenderness. These assessments are not part of standard pre-operative care and will only be performed in participants who consent to participate in the study. Participants will be observed during a single study visit of no more than 90 minutes with no further observation. At the conclusion of this visit they will be asked to complete a short questionnaire regarding their participation which has been designed specifically for this study. The questionnaire will take approximately 5 minutes to complete.
Sponsors
Keryn Harlow
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 50 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
• Women aged 18-50 • Pelvic pain for equal-to or more-than 6 months duration • Scheduled for laparoscopy for investigation of pelvic pain, with or without sonographic evidence of endometriosis • No prior history of surgically treated endometriosis
Exclusion criteria
• Inability to understand and fully comprehend consent information • Known pathology other than endometriosis or adenomyosis as likely cause of pain • History of or planned hysterectomy • Non-English speakers
Outcome results
None listed