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Pelvic Girdle Pain Early Postpartum: Underlying Condition and Associated Factors

Pelvic Girdle Pain Early Postpartum: Underlying Condition and Associated Factors

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03835650
Enrollment
105
Registered
2019-02-08
Start date
2019-04-01
Completion date
2021-02-25
Last updated
2021-05-14

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Diastasis Recti, Pelvic Girdle Pain, Pubic Symphysis Diastasis

Brief summary

Background: Pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain (PGP) can appear during pregnancy, directly after labour or can be delayed to 3 weeks postpartum. Pain is experienced between the posterior iliac crest and the gluteal fold, particularly in the vicinity of the Sacroiliac joints (SIJ). The pain may radiate in the posterior thigh and can also occur in conjunction with/or separately in the symphysis. The endurance capacity for standing, walking, and sitting is diminished. The diagnosis of PGP can be reached after exclusion of lumbar causes. The pain or functional disturbances in relation to PGP must be reproducible by specific clinical tests. Lack of accurate and early diagnosis of the PGP reasons postpartum may contribute to development of chronic condition, lowering quality of life years after delivery. Objectives: The aim of the project is to evaluate the underlying cause of the severe pelvic girdle pain postpartum (whether it is real PGP or diastasis pubic symphysis) and to assess the differences between females with severe postpartum PGP, mild and moderate PGP and with no PGP in terms of: presence of diastasis pubic symphysis, presence of diastasis recti and linea alba dysfunction, factors associated with labour and maladaptive mental processing (catastrophizing). Materials and methods: Because of low incidence of researched conditions, a case control study will be the study design of choice. The subjects with PGP will be matched with those with no PGP. Subjects' assessment will consist of palpation and ultrasonography evaluation of diastasis recti(inter-recti distance), ultrasonography assesment of pubic symphysis (inter-pubic width) and mental processing (catastrophizing assessed with Pain Catastrophizing Scale) analysis. Factors connected with labour (time from epidural anaesthesia injection to full dilatation and delivery) will be also investigated. Expected results: To the investigators' knowledge, postpartum pelvic girdle pain has not been extensively studied so far. The study will bring information about the possible underlying cause of postpartum PGP: whether it is PGP or diastasis pubic symphysis.

Interventions

None listed

Sponsors

Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education
CollaboratorOTHER
Żelazna Medical Centre, LLC
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to 45 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Natural labour or vacuum extractor or forceps * for the study group - pain due to PGP confirmed with dedicated functional tests * for control group with no pain - no pain due to PGP * agreement to participate

Exclusion criteria

* diseases that can mimic PGP f.ex. Scheuermann disease, rheumatoid arthritis, Ehler's-Danlos Syndrome, hip dysplasia * major peri-partum events like internal haemorrhage, pelvic fracture

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Diastasis Recti: ultrasound measurement of inter-recti distanceone time assessment, during the hospital stay, within 1st week postpartummeasurement of inter-recti distance (ultrasound assessment at the level of umbilicus, 2cm over the umbilicus and 2 cm below)
Pubic symphysis distanceone time assessment, during the hospital stay, within 1st week postpartumassesment of pubic symphysis distance - presence of diastasis pubic symphysis, distance measured by ultrasound

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Pain Catastrophizing Scaleone time assessment, during the hospital stay, within 1st week postpartumAssesment of Catastrophizing
Epidural anaesthesiaduring labour (Time form injection to full cervical dilatation)Time form injection to full cervical dilatation
Epidural anaesthaesia2during labour (Time form injection to labour)Time form injection to labour
Diastasis Recti: inter-recti distanceone time assessment, during the hospital stay, within 1st week postpartummeasurement of inter-recti distance by palpation examination at the level of umbilicus, 2cm over the umbilicus and 2 cm below

Countries

Poland

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026