Efficiency of physiotherapy in chronic pelvic pain. Qualitative systematic review

Objective: The aim of this review is to determine the best physiotherapy technique for the treatment of chronic pelvic pain. Search strategy and study selection: All major health-science databases were consulted between October 2013 and May 2014, including PubMed, Cochrane Plus, PEDro, IME and Web of Science, as well as journals not indexed in data bases of the field., The studies were analysed, level of scientific evidence and methodological quality, and inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. Inclusion criteria were randomised controlled clinical trials, applied to adults, in English or Spanish. Those studies that did not apply physiotherapy techniques were excluded from the survey, as well as those focused on the child and adolescent population, chronic lumbar pain, or acute pelvic pain. Summary of results: A total of 25 articles were selected for the review. All of them were randomised clinical trials, and all of them classified as 1 according to the SIGN scale. Trials were classified in 8 different categories, depending on the type of physiotherapy intervention. Conclusions: Physiotherapy treatments are effective in the treatment of chronic pelvic pain, particularly electrotherapy, which proved to be the best. Moreover, they improve other aspects of chronic pelvic pain, such as quality of life, urinary and gastrointestinal symptoms, sexual function and psychological aspects. Furthermore, more quality scientific trials on the effectiveness of physiotherapy over other therapies and over other physiotherapy techniques are needed