Consumer and clinician summaries now available on chronic pelvic pain treatment options
Two new research summaries on treatment options for
noncyclic chronic pelvic pain (CPP) are now available
from the Effective Health Care Program of the Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The
consumer and clinician summaries are based on the
research review, Noncyclic Chronic Pelvic Pain Therapies
for Women: Comparative Effectiveness. The reports
conclude that, despite the extensive use of invasive
surgical procedures to treat women with noncyclic
chronic pelvic pain, little evidence supports a surgical
approach. Additionally, current evidence is insufficient to
change existing approaches to care. For this reason, less invasive
diagnostic and therapeutic interventions may be
warranted before trying more invasive treatments
associated with more severe side effects.
The consumer summary, Treating Chronic Pelvic Pain
describes noncyclic chronic pelvic pain and explains
research on CPP therapies. The summary assists patients
to determine the cause of their pain, describes available
treatments and their side effects, and provides helpful
questions women with CPP can ask health care
professionals.
The clinician summary, Effectiveness of Treatments for
Noncyclic Chronic Pelvic Pain in Adult Women provides
an overview of noncyclic CPP and delivers the clinical
bottom line, including key findings, on CPP. In
conjunction with the review and summaries, a new
continuing medical education activity and faculty slide
set have also been created.
These materials and many
others that explore the effectiveness and risks of
treatment options for various conditions are available on
AHRQ's Effective Health Care Program Web site at
http://www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov
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