EXPPECT research highlights
This page summarises the EXPPECT group’s latest research.
In September 2020, the EXPPECT-led GaPP2 trial was published in The Lancet:
Research Article: Gabapentin for chronic pelvic pain in women (GaPP2): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31693-7
What did the study show and what does it mean?
Treatment with gabapentin did not result in significantly lower pain scores in women with chronic pelvic pain, and was associated with higher rates of side-effects than placebo. Given the increasing reports of abuse and evidence of potential harms associated with gabapentin use, it is important that clinicians consider alternative treatment options to off-label gabapentin for the management of chronic pelvic pain and no obvious pelvic pathology.
In 2018, the results of our trial showing feasibility of a future large scale study to determine the effectiveness of acupuncture for chronic pelvic pain was published in the British Journal of Pain:
In 2018, we led a UK survey which showed that clinicians feel ill-equipped to manage women with chronic pelvic pain, and 45% of UK gynaecologists think chronic pelvic pain is managed badly. The results were published in the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology (EJOG):
The results of the Endometriosis Priority Setting Partnership, led by Andrew Horne and Philippa Saunders from the University of Edinburgh, and overseen by the James Lind Alliance—a non-profit initiative funded by the National Institute for Health Research— were published in The Lancet with a commentary in The BMJ in 2017, and highlighted in the national press:
Patients and clinicians agreed that improving the diagnosis of endometriosis and stopping its progression are key research priorities for the condition.