Telerehabilitation in Chronic Pelvic Pain

Objective: Physical therapists utilize telerehabilitation as the common term for telehealth applications. Many physiotherapists worked as telehealth providers during the coronavirus pandemic. The objective of the study will show the efficacy of Telerehabilitation-Based Physical Therapy (TBPT) on pain intensity and treatment satisfaction in patients with chronic pelvic pain.

Method: This study is a prospective study of patients with chronic pelvic pain.42 participants will include the study. Patients who have any other distribution pattern of pelvic pain were equally considered for therapy. Women age between 18-50 years will be include. Their symptoms should be one of these follows such as chronic pain in pelvic region, hyperalgesia in vulva, and pain during sitting or intercourse. They will get diagnosed by a gynecologist who is a multidisciplinary team comprising and referred to a pelvic health physiotherapist. Prior to treatment patients will complete questionnaires and interview a pelvic health physiotherapist. Pain symptoms will be assessed with the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and The Pelvic Pain Impact Questionnaire (PPIQ) before and after treatment. Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I) for evaluating patient satisfaction after treatment. Women with chronic pelvic pain will be treated for 16 sessions (an hour for each session) in 8 weeks with the TBPT technique by the same pelvic health physiotherapist (AB). Patients will apply internal and external trigger point release therapy and self-massage techniques by themselves with Telerehabilitation-Based Physical Therapy.

Telerehabilitation is described as the remote conveyance of healthcare services and clinical information using information and telecommunication technologies involving the internet, wireless satellite, and telephone media to provide a series of rehabilitation services by eliminating the barriers of distance, time, and travel to receive care. There is an abundance of commercially available applications (such as Zoom) offered for health care monitoring and management. Most of the studies have employed telerehabilitation methods with patients who have pain, mainly for assessment or exercise programs. There is not any study on the telerehabilitation application of physical therapy in patients with chronic pelvic pain during the coronavirus pandemic.

Our conceptual framework is based on two arguments. First, physiotherapists need physical access to their patients only for a limited number of interventions. Most of the methods used by physiotherapists to treat their patients can be conducted at a distance without having direct access to the patient. Previous studies have shown that telerehabilitation can be used in many cases and provide results on par with face-to-face treatment. In fact, self-administered treatment was found to be effective even in the case of postal treatment where the participants received instruction through postal systems.

Second, the pelvic floor area is relatively well-suited for self-treatment. Most, if not all, of the exercises and procedures, can be safely conducted by the patients themselves. The patients can even use pelvic wands and dilators for harder-to-reach inner release points. Therefore, training the patient and supervising and guiding self-administered procedures should be sufficiently effective to reduce pelvic pain and reach patient satisfaction in most cases.

The aim of the study will show the efficacy of Telerehabilitation-Based Physical Therapy (TBPT) on pain intensity and treatment satisfaction in patients with chronic pelvic pain.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* experienced pelvic pain (dyspareunia) for over six (6) months prior to the study
* to be able to use the internet and their willingness to participate.
* no pelvic floor surgeries
* no C-section and birth history
* to have a diagnoses by dyspareunia

Exclusion Criteria:

* to have endometriosis
* to have a pelvic health physiotherapy history
* pelvic organ prolapse, or a previous pelvic organ surgery.
* the use of analgesics in the previous three (3) months,
* to have a pregnancy,
* to have an active vaginal or urinary tract infection, or suffering from other comorbidities that affect the lower urinary tract such as diabetes mellitus