Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation as an additional treatment for women suffering from therapy-resistant provoked vestibulodynia: a feasibility study.
J Sex Med
; 12(1): 228-37, 2015 Jan.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25388372
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
The current approach to women with provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) comprises a multidimensional, multidisciplinary therapeutic protocol. As PVD is considered to be a chronic pain disorder, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) can be used as an additional therapy for women with otherwise therapy-resistant PVD.AIMS:
The aims of this study were to evaluate whether TENS has a beneficial effect on vulvar pain, sexual functioning, and sexually-related personal distress in women with therapy-resistant PVD and to assess the effect of TENS on the need for vestibulectomy.METHODS:
A longitudinal prospective follow-up study was performed on women with therapy-resistant PVD who received additional domiciliary TENS. Self-report questionnaires and visual analog scales (VASs) were completed at baseline (T1), post-TENS (T2), and follow-up (T3). MAIN OUTCOMEMEASURES:
Vulvar pain, sexual functioning, and sexually-related personal distress were the main outcome measures.RESULTS:
Thirty-nine women with therapy-resistant PVD were included. Mean age was 27 ± 5.6 years (range 19 to 41); mean duration between TENS and T3 follow-up was 10.1 ± 10.7 months (range 2 to 32). Vulvar pain VAS scores directly post-TENS (median 3.4) and at follow-up (median 3.2) were significantly (P < 0.01) lower than at baseline (median 8.0). Post-TENS, sexual functioning scores on the Female Sexual Functioning Index questionnaire had improved significantly (P = 0.2); these scores remained stable at follow-up. Sexually-related personal distress scores had improved significantly post-TENS (P = 0.01). Only 4% of the women who received TENS needed to undergo vestibulectomy vs. 23% in our previous patient population.CONCLUSION:
The addition of self-administered TENS to multidimensional treatment significantly reduced the level of vulvar pain and the need for vestibulectomy. The long-term effect was stable. These results not only support our hypothesis that TENS constitutes a feasible and beneficial addition to multidimensional treatment for therapy-resistant PVD, but also the notion that PVD can be considered as a chronic pain syndrome.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Estimulação Elétrica Nervosa Transcutânea
/
Vulvodinia
Tipo de estudo:
Evaluation_studies
/
Guideline
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Observational_studies
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Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Sex Med
Assunto da revista:
GINECOLOGIA
/
MEDICINA REPRODUTIVA
/
UROLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2015
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Holanda