A case report of successful team approach treatment of provoked vulvodynia

Abstract

AbstractBackground: Vulvodynia has been defined as vulvar discomfort, most often described as burning pain, occurring in the absence of relevant findings or a specific, clinically identifiable, neurologic disorder. Vulvodynia is a genital syndrome of multi-causal origin and requires a team approach. The purpose of the case report of provoked vulvodynia is to show the efficacy of individualized, multifaceted and multidisciplinary therapeutic team approach used by a gynaecologist with special knowledge of sexology and a physiotherapist specialising in treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction. Case report: A 35-year old patient presented with a complaint of genital itching and consequently burning pain which first occurred during sexual intercourse one year previously. Afterwards a gynaecologist with special knowledge of sexology performed a biopsychosocial assessment, broader gynaecological examination and psychoeducation. Diagnosed was provoked vulvodynia. Than she was assessed by the physiotherapist specialising in treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction and treated with TENS. To assess the effectiveness of treatment were used Female Sexual Function Index questionnaire and the visual analogue scale before and after the team approach treatment. Conclusions: In our case individualized, multifaceted and multidisciplinary therapeutic approach proved to be a good choice for treating genital syndrome of provoked vulvodynia of multi-causal origin.

Keywords

• provoked vulvodynia
• sexual medicine
• biopsychosocial model
• team approach
• transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation