LUNA- A Non-Relieving Pelvic Pain Procedure

The laparoscopic uterosacral nerve ablation (LUNA) procedure – least invasive surgery to severe the pelvic nerves in order to relieve pelvic pain in women has now been shown to provide no relief according to a large U.K. based assessment.

The persistent pelvic pain is a major ailment for many women. Certain reasons behind severe pelvic pain can be analysed and cured such as:

• Pelvic pain originating due to abnormal uterine tissue growth known as Endometriosis.
• The normally known pelvic inflammatory disease that causes pelvic pain.
• Tissue adhesions due to their clumping together following inadequate healing from surgical intervention, infection or certain disease.

Nearly one in about seven women endure extreme pelvic pain, however majority of the cases cannot be directly linked to the above said conditions or be healed by the associated treatments. The pain mostly occurs at the time of monthly menstrual cycle (dysmenorrhea), pain in between menstrual cycles listed as non-cyclic pain and pain experienced at the time of sexual contact known as dyspareunia.

As the reason behind the pain or its treatment is still not clear, the doctors have attempted to resolve the pain itself using surgical destruction of the pelvic nerves. Earlier this procedure was carried out by open surgery; however, now-a-days doctors employ the minimally invasive LUNA procedure.

There have always been riddling controversies regarding its workability. But, there has been a wide-ranging study that was conducted on close to five hundred women ailing from pelvic pain that persisted for greater than 6 months at eighteen hospitals based in U.K.

The usual procedure employed on women with pelvic pain is to undergo laparoscopic exam wherein a fine tube is introduced within the pelvic section. The women that participated in the study consented to go through LUNA or not go for it, depending on whether the exam detected an untreatable reason for their pain, although those women facing minimum endometriosis also were integrated into the study. The scientists assessed the pain of those women for time span ranging from 3 months to 5 years afterwards.

The base line depicts that LUNA failed to assuage any kind of pain or even enhance life quality in any significant manner. The report submitted by Jane Daniels and her associates at the Birmingham Women’s Hospital observed that after three months subsequent to undergoing the LUNA procedure, the women stated that they experienced lesser pain irrespective of  undergoing the LUNA procedure or not. The conclusion drawn was that the initial pain decline might have been due to the effect of placebo and could be attributed to the assurance furnished by the laparoscopic exam that revealed absence of grave pathology.

Regrettably, in spite of these discoveries sparing several women the unwanted LUNA procedure, there still remains no adept treatment for this real medical ailment that can take its toll over lives and precious relationships.

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