The Effect of Preoperative Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy (Prehabilitation) on Postoperative Pain Following Endometriosis Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

NCT07827794 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: 00167703Pro00167703
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 150
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory condition where there is abnormal tissue growing in the pelvis or other places in the body that resembles the lining of the uterus (endometrium), and is a common cause of long lasting pelvic pain. Surgery is sometimes done for endometriosis to help people with pain, however it is common for people to have some pain after surgery that doesn't go away. This may be related to other painful things like muscle pain in the pelvis, bowel or bladder issues, or mental health conditions. Researchers would like to know if doing pelvic floor physiotherapy before surgery for endometriosis will help people with long lasting pain after surgery. Participants in the study will be randomly put into one of two groups: the intervention group, who will receive two to three structured in-person pelvic floor physiotherapy sessions prior to surgery ("prehabilitation"), in addition to usual surgical care, or the control group, who will receive usual surgical care, and may still access physiotherapy outside of the study if they want to. All participants will complete questionnaires before surgery, after completing prehabilitation or immediately before surgery if they are part of the control group, approximately 6 weeks after surgery, 6 months after surgery, and 12 months after surgery. The questionnaires ask about endometriosis-related pain, quality of life, bladder and bowel symptoms, and mental well-being.

Conditions

Endometriosis; Chronic Pelvic Pain

Keywords

endometriosis; chronic pelvic pain; pelvic physiotherapy; prehabilitation; endometriosis surgery

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Endometriosis Health Profile (EHP)-30 score

  Endometriosis Health Profile (EHP)-30 score (validated questionnaire measuring pain and quality of life)

  Endometriosis Health Profile (EHP)-30 score measured prior to surgery and 6-8 weeks post operatively, 6 months and 12 months post operatively

Secondary Outcomes (9)

• Chronic pelvic pain

  Measured prior to surgery and 6-8 weeks post operatively, 6 months and 12 months post operatively

• Dysmenorrhea

  Measured prior to surgery and 6-8 weeks post operatively, 6 months and 12 months post operatively

• Dyspareunia

  Measured prior to surgery and 6-8 weeks post operatively, 6 months and 12 months post operatively

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

  Measured prior to surgery and 6-8 weeks post operatively, 6 months and 12 months post operatively

• Painful bladder syndrome (PBS)

  Measured prior to surgery and 6-8 weeks post operatively, 6 months and 12 months post operatively

Study Arms (2)

Control Group

NO INTERVENTION

Standard perioperative and surgical care

Intervention Group

EXPERIMENTAL

Structured pre-operative pelvic floor physiotherapy program (prehabilitation) plus standard perioperative and surgical care

Other: Structured pre-operative pelvic floor physiotherapy program (prehabilitation)

Interventions

Structured pre-operative pelvic floor physiotherapy program (prehabilitation) OTHER

Two to three structured pre-operative pelvic floor physiotherapy program (prehabilitation) by physiotherapist specializing in chronic pelvic pain

Intervention Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 50 Years
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Presence of chronic pelvic pain (\>6 months)
• Diagnosis of endometriosis (clinical, laparoscopic, or imaging-based diagnosis)
• Scheduled for fertility-sparing endometriosis surgery or hysterectomy with excision of endometriosis

You may not qualify if:

• Undergoing gynecologic surgery in the absence of pelvic pain
• Patients undergoing laparotomy or conversion to laparotomy
• Have undergone endometriosis related surgery in the past 12 months
• Have engaged in pelvic physiotherapy in the past 12 months
• Non-English speakers (if validated tools unavailable)
• Active malignancy
• Post-menopausal
• Prior oophorectomy
• Prior hysterectomy

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Alberta: lead
• Women and Children's Health Research Institute, Canada: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Alberta

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Endometriosis

Interventions

Preoperative Exercise

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Genital Diseases, Female; Female Urogenital Diseases; Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications; Urogenital Diseases; Genital Diseases

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Perioperative Care; Patient Care; Therapeutics; Surgical Procedures, Operative; Exercise; Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena; Health Services; Health Care Facilities Workforce and Services

Study Officials

• Alicia Long, MD, MSc, FRCSC

  University of Alberta

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Alicia Long, MD, MSc, FRCSC

CONTACT

1-780-934-5433; ajlong1@ualberta.ca

Anastasia Sizov, MD

CONTACT

1-403-471-2237; sizov@ualberta.ca

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 14, 2026
• First Posted: September 18, 2026
• Study Start (Estimated): March 1, 2027
• Primary Completion (Estimated): March 1, 2030
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2030
• Last Updated: September 18, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CA (1)