Pelvic Pain Research

Prof Linda Mcgowan talks about research in persistent pelvic pain in general practice to improve the management of those with pelvic pain.

Further Reading

November 2016:  The following trial is currently recruiting at several sites in the UK. Please see information about the trial below.

The GaPP2 trial

The GaPP2 trial is testing gabapentin in women with chronic pelvic pain.  The GaPP2 researchers want to find out if gabapentin reduces chronic pelvic pain, if there are any side effects of the medicine and how it works.

Gabapentin is a drug that was developed to treat epilepsy, and is currently used to relieve neuropathic pain.

GaPP2 is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial:

  • Randomised:The women who take part will be given either the treatment medicine (gabapentin) or a placebo – a dummy drug that has no active ingredients.  A computer makes the selection so it’s completely random.
  • Double-blind:The women in the trial won’t be told whether they are taking the active medicine (gabapentin) or the placebo – and neither will their doctors.  So both are “blinded” to this information.
  • Placebo-controlled:Half of the women in the study will have the active medicine and half the placebo (they are called the control group).  The medication that women receive will look exactly the same to them and their doctors, but a completely separate study group will keep a record of which women have gabapentin and which have the placebo.

What the trial involves

We are collecting information on pain, and physical and emotional wellbeing at the beginning of the study and after 12 weeks of treatment by use of questionnaires. Additionally, we are asking a subset of 50 women (recruited in Edinburgh) to have a scan to look at brain activity before and during treatment. We will analyse the brain scan findings to further understand how gabapentin works in women with chronic pelvic pain and possibly also other pain conditions.

The following hospitals are participating in the trial:

  • Edinburgh Royal Infirmary Hospital
  • Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
  • Princess Ann Hospital, Southampton
  • James Cook Hospital, South Tees, Middlesbrough
  • John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford
  • Countess of Chester Hospital, Chester
  • The Princess Royal Hospital Shrewsbury & Telford
  • Birmingham Women’s Hospital
  • Yeovil District Hospital
  • Liverpool Women’s Hospital
  • University Hospital of North Tees
  • University Hospital of Hartlepool
  • Rotherham General Hospital
  • University Hospital Crosshouse, Kilmarnock
  • Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow
  • St Mary’s, Manchester
  • Leighton Hospital, Mid Cheshire
  • Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire
  • Worcester Royal Hospital, Worcestershire Acute NHS Trust
  • University Hospital Birmingham
  • Walsall Manor Hospital
  • Sunderland Royal Hospital
  • Milton Keynes General Hospital
  • The Royal Glamorgan Hospital, Llantrisant, Wales
  • Birmingham Heartlands Hospital
  • Poole General Hospital
  • South Tyneside District Hospital, South Shields
  • Hairmyres NHS, Lanarkshire
  • Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary
  • Barts Health, The Royal London Hospital
  • Darlington & County Durham Trust
  • Burnley General Hospital
  • University College London Hospital, (UCLH)
  • Raigmore Hospital NHS, Inverness
  • Victoria Kirkcaldy NHS, Fife
  • Wrexham Maelor Hospital
  • Chelsea & Westminster
  • West Middlesex University Hospital
  • Peterborough District

For more information about the trial, please visit the GaPP2 trial website.

Results of the trial

The results of the GaPP2 trial are published in “The Lancet” 24th September 2020:

Newly launched EU research initiative for chronic pain, Endometriosis and Bladder Pain:

Two articles published in New Scientist Managing Pain Supplement:

If you have any questions that are not medical or scientific and more about feelings or concerns about the trial, do contact us at: [email protected]