Announcements

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