Faculty Sponsor

Jana Stedman

College

College of Nursing & Health Professions (CONHP)

Department/Program

Physician Assistant Studies

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Symposium Date

Summer 7-23-2026

Abstract

Objective:

The goal of this paper was to assess approaches to management of idiopathic chronic pelvic pain (ICPP) in females to improve health outcomes.

Methods:

A structured literature search was conducted in the MEDLINE and CINAHL databases. Studies were included if they evaluated therapeutic interventions for primary/idiopathic chronic pelvic pain in adult females and reported treatment outcomes. Studies with adolescents, males, non-treatment topics, diagnostics, or unrelated conditions were excluded.

Results:

Myofascial therapy resulted in relief of anxiety and depression (-4.0+/-3.2, p< 0.001; -3.4+/-2.5, p< 0.001) and female sexual function index (FSFI) (7.8+/-6.4, p< 0.001). Psychological approaches had similar results regarding pain improvement, however showed worsening of FSFI (-0.31 [ -0.95, 0.34]; -1.95 [-3.63, -0.28]). Duloxetine and amitriptyline trials displayed improvement in pain, with amitriptyline impacting urinary symptoms and duloxetine resulted in lower pain scores. Cannabidiol improved pain, sleep, and mood disturbances (p≤0.001). Multimodal treatment resulted in greater improvement in pain (-2.19, [-3.17, -1.22], p=0.002) and FSFI (2.47, [1.06,3.88], p=0.030). No study showed statistically significant data displaying improvement/worsening quality of life.

Conclusion:

Each individual treatment resulted in improvements in the measured outcomes. Multimodal treatment approaches result in greatest outcomes when compared to monotherapy. It is important to discuss all options with patients to adequately address their symptoms.

Keywords: idiopathic chronic pelvic pain; female sexual function index; myofascial; amitriptyline; duloxetine; cannabidiol

Biographical Information about Author(s)

Kylie Freese has an anticipated graduation date of July 2026 from the Valparaiso University Physician Assistant Program. She plans on working in Internal Medicine after graduation. Kylie was inspired to research  "A Multimodal Approach to the Treatment of Primary Chronic Pelvic Pain in Adult Women: the Positive Impact of Shared Decision Making on Health Outcomes" because of her passion for women's health and patient-centered care. 

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