Impact of exercise on pain perception in women with endometriosis: A systematic review

Sara Hansen, Una Áslaug Sverrisdóttir, Martin Rudnicki
Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2021 · vol. 100(9) , pp. 1595–1601 · doi:10.1111/aogs.14169 · PMID:33999412 · W3163331363
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This systematic review of six studies found no consistent evidence that exercise reduces pain perception in women with endometriosis, highlighting the need for more robust trials.

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Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Endometriosis is challenging to treat. It is a painful and chronic inflammatory disorder that impacts up to 10% of women of reproductive age. Despite available surgical and medical treatment options, recurrence of symptoms is common. Available studies suggest that exercise may have a therapeutic effect on chronic inflammation and thereby on pain perception. This review evaluates whether exercise can decrease pain perception in women with symptomatic endometriosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA by searching databases Medline and Embase to locate randomized controlled trials and observational studies. Risk of bias was investigated using the Cochrane Collaboration Tool for the Evaluation of Randomized Controlled Trials and the ROBINS-I quality assessment scale. Inclusion criteria were women of reproductive age, laparoscopically confirmed diagnosis of endometriosis, and intervention of any type of exercise. All manuscripts were evaluated by two of the authors and when in doubt a third author was consulted. This review was registered in PROSPERO on November 14, 2020 (CRD42020212309). RESULTS: Six articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review. Concerning exercise, two studies showed significant decrease in pain relief but the remaining studies showed either negative or no impact on pain relief. A meta-analysis could not be conducted because of the considerable heterogeneity among the included studies. CONCLUSIONS: The present review does not indicate any beneficial effect of exercise on pain in women with endometriosis. There is a need for randomized controlled trials with correct power calculation, well-defined study groups and training programs to be able to answer the question of whether exercise can improve the pain experience in patients with endometriosis.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715mesh:D017699endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Exercise Therapy Pain Perception Pelvic Pain Female Humans

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

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Cited by (33)

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