Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Mar 8:5:1279312.
doi: 10.3389/fpain.2024.1279312. eCollection 2024.

Acupuncture for pain and pain-related disability in deep infiltrating endometriosis

Giulia Chiarle #  1   2   3 , Gianni Allais #  1   2 , Silvia Sinigaglia #  1   2 , Gisella Airola  1   2 , Sara Rolando  1 , Fabiola Bergandi  1 , Salvatore Micalef  3 , Chiara Benedetto  1   3
Affiliations

Acupuncture for pain and pain-related disability in deep infiltrating endometriosis

Giulia Chiarle et al. Front Pain Res (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture in relieving symptoms (dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, pelvic pain and dyschezia) intensity, improving functional disability, reducing the number of days per months of dysmenorrhea, the frequency and the efficacy of analgesic use in deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE). The safety profile was also evaluated.

Methods: The study sample was 34 patients with DIE; for 2 months (T-2, T-1) the women recorded diary notes on the numbers of days of menstruation, the presence, intensity, and disability related to dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, pelvic pain, and dyschezia. They then received a total of 15 acupuncture treatments over 6 months (T1-T6; once a week for 12 weeks, then once a month for 3 months).

Results: Dysmenorrhea intensity was decreased during treatment. A decrease of at least 50% in number of days of dysmenorrhea, and a decrease in moderate-to-severe disability starting from T1 to T6 was recorded for 58.6% of patients. Dyspareunia intensity steadily decreased starting at T2; the percentage of women with moderate-to-severe disability declined from 73.3% at T-2, to 36.9% at T3, T4, and T5. A decrease in pelvic pain score was noted starting at T1; the percentage of disability decreased from 83.3% at T-2 to 33.3% at T3 and T6. The intensity of dyschezia decreased from T-2 to T3 and T4 and then increased slightly. Analgesic drug use was lower during treatment and its efficacy appeared to be greater.

Conclusions: The limitations notwithstanding our study-findings show that acupuncture was safe and effective in reducing pain intensity and symptoms-related disability. Larger-scale studies are needed to compare acupuncture and pharmacotherapy for endometriosis-related pain.

Keywords: acupuncture; disability; dyschezia; dysmenorrhea; dyspareunia; endometriosis; pelvic pain.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of patients enrolled and scheduled treatments.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(I) Changes in intensity of endometriosis-related symptoms. (A) Dysmenorrhea (B) Dyspareunia (C) Noncyclical Pelvic Pain (D) Dyschezia. *Statistically significant vs. T-2 [(A) p < 0.0001; (B) p < 0.01; (C) p < 0.05; (D) p < 0.005)]; ⁰Statistically significant vs. T1 [(A) p < 0.0001; (B) p < 0.02; (D) p < 0.05)]; xStatistically significant vs. T2 [(A) p < 0.0001)]. (II) Endometriosis-related disability. (A) Dysmenorrhea (B) Dyspareunia (C) Noncyclical Pelvic Pain.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Percentage reduction in symptom intensity at T3 and T6. (A) Dysmenorrhea (B) Dyspareunia (C) Noncyclical Pelvic Pain (D) Dyschezia.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(A) frequency of medications use (analgesics/anti-inflammatory drugs). (B) Effect of medications (analgesics/anti-inflammatory drugs).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bulun SE. Endometriosis. N Engl J Med. (2009) 360(3):268–79. 10.1056/NEJMra0804690 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Meuleman C, Vandenabeele B, Fieuws S, Spiessens C, Timmerman D, D’Hooghe T. High prevalence of endometriosis in infertile women with normal ovulation and normospermic partners. Fertil Steril. (2009) 92:68–74. 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2008.04.056 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Soo-Young L, Yu-Jin K, Dae-Hyung L. Classification of endometriosis. Yeungnam Univ J Med. (2021) 38(1):10–8. 10.12701/yujm.2020.00444 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Koninckx PR, Martin DC. Deep endometriosis: a consequence of infiltration or retraction or possibly adenomyosis externa? Fertil Steril. (1992) 58(5):924–8. 10.1016/S0015-0282(16)55436-3 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Nirgianakis K, Ma L, McKinnon B, Mueller MD. Recurrence patterns after surgery in patients with different endometriosis subtypes: a long-term hospital-based cohort study. J Clin Med. (2020) 9(2):496. 10.3390/jcm9020496 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources