Comparison of Acupuncture and NSAID Efficacy in Patients with Chronic Pelvic Pain Using Pain Disability Index and Visual Analogue Scale

Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is continuous, noncyclical, and present for more than six months. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are widely used. Complementary medicine is considered when pain treatment is insufficient. There are studies available investigating the effect of acupuncture. In this study, we aimed to compare the effectiveness of acupuncture with NSAIDs. Patients admitted to Ankara Atatürk Research Hospital in a one-year period and diagnosed with CPP were included. Patients with organic pathology were excluded. Acupuncture was applied to 38 patients and 30 patients received NSAIDs according to their choice. Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Pain Disability Index (PDI) were applied. Pre-treatment PDI in the acupuncture group was 47.15±11.84 and it was 24.95±14.16 after treatment. Pre-treatment VAS score in the acupuncture group was 6.89±1.57 and it was 3.78±1.91 after treatment. Pre-treatment PDI in the NSAID group was 25.7 and it was 15.5 after treatment. VAS in the NSAID group pre-treatment was 4.40±2.44 and it was 2.63±2.20 after treatment. Both of the groups had significant decreases in their scores. The pre-treatment scores in the acupuncture group were higher than the NSAID group. This finding may indicate that patients in the acupuncture group were NSAID resistant. Hence, acupuncture could be a choice for NSAID resistant patients.