RESULTS The instruments most frequently used were single-item VAS and Biberoglu and Behrman pain score , while multidimensional inventories were used in few studies .
The results of clinical studies in CPP are more frequently based on one-dimensional measurements .
RATIONALE Many types of  pain assessment are available to research ers carrying out clinical trials in chronic pelvic pain ( CPP ) , ranging from a single-item scale to multidimensional inventories .
AIM Our objective was to investigate which assessment s of pain are more commonly used in clinical trials on CPP .
Randomized clinical trial of a levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system and a depot GnRH analogue for the treatment of chronic pelvic pain in women with endometriosis.
BACKGROUND The objective of this multicentre r and omized , controlled clinical trial was to compare the efficacy of a levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system ( LNG-IUS ) and a depot-GnRH-analogue in the control of endometriosis-related pain over a period of six months . METHODS Eighty-two women , 18 to 40 years of age ( mean 30 years ) , with endometriosis , dysmenorrhoea and /or CPP , were r and omized using a computer-generated system of sealed envelopes into either LNG-IUS ( n = 39 ) or GnRH analogue ( n = 43 ) treatment groups at three university centres . Daily scores of endometriosis-associated CPP were evaluated using the Visual Analogue Scale ( VAS ) , daily bleeding score was calculated from bleeding calendars , and improvement in quality of life was evaluated using the Psychological General Well-Being Index Question naire ( PGWBI ) . The pain score diary was based on the VAS in which women recorded the occurrence and intensity of pain on a daily basis . A monthly score was calculated from the result of the sum of the daily scores divided by the number of days in each observation period . RESULTS CPP decreased significantly from the first month throughout the six months of therapy with both forms of treatment and there was no difference between the groups ( P > 0.999 ) . In both treatment groups , women with stage III and IV endometriosis showed a more rapid improvement in the VAS pain score than women with stage I and II of the disease ( P < 0.002 ) . LNG-IUS users had a higher bleeding score than GnRH-analogue users at all time points of observation with 34 % and 71 % of patients in the LNG-IUS and GnRH-analogue groups , respectively , reporting no bleeding during the first treatment month , and 70 % and 98 % reporting no bleeding during the sixth month . No difference was observed between groups with reference to improvement in quality of life . CONCLUSIONS Both , the LNG-IUS and the GnRH-analogue were effective in the treatment of CPP-associated endometriosis , although no differences were observed between the two treatments . Among the additional advantages of the LNG-IUS is the fact that it does not provoke hypoestrogenism and that it requires only one medical intervention for its introduction every 5 years . This device could therefore become the treatment of choice for CPP-associated endometriosis in women who do not wish to conceive
RESULTS The instruments most frequently used were single-item VAS and Biberoglu and Behrman pain score , while multidimensional inventories were used in few studies .
The results of clinical studies in CPP are more frequently based on one-dimensional measurements .
RATIONALE Many types of  pain assessment are available to research ers carrying out clinical trials in chronic pelvic pain ( CPP ) , ranging from a single-item scale to multidimensional inventories .
AIM Our objective was to investigate which assessment s of pain are more commonly used in clinical trials on CPP .