World Journal of Laparoscopic Surgery

Register      Login

VOLUME 1 , ISSUE 3 ( September-December, 2008 ) > List of Articles

RESEARCH ARTICLE

The Role of Laparoscopic Uterine Nerve Ablation (LUNA) and Presacral Neurectomy (PSN) of Pelvic Pain Management

Ashon Sa'adi

Citation Information : Sa'adi A. The Role of Laparoscopic Uterine Nerve Ablation (LUNA) and Presacral Neurectomy (PSN) of Pelvic Pain Management. World J Lap Surg 2008; 1 (3):39-45.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10007-1069

Published Online: 01-04-2011

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2008; The Author(s).


Abstract

Background

The chronic pelvic pain as non-cyclical pain is serious enough to cause disability or lead to medical care. While these treatments are very successful there is still a 20 to 25% failure rate and surgery has been an option for such cases. Effectiveness of laparoscopic uterosacral nerve ablation (LUNA) and presacral neurectomy (PSN) can be useful for alleviating chronic pelvic pain.

Objectives

To assess the effectiveness of surgical interruption of pelvic nerve pathways in primary and secondary dysmenorrheal in the chonic pelvic pain.

Data sources

Various watchfulness sources related to surgically chronic pelvic pain treatment from various causes and journals, also involve the Cochrane Menstrual Disorders and Subfertility Group Trials Register (9 June 2004), CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library, Issue 2, 2004), MEDLINE (1966 to Nov. 2003), EMBASE (1980 to Nov. 2003), CINAHL (1982 to Oct. 2003), MetaRegister of Controlled Trials, the citation lists of review articles and included trials.

Methods

Review and analyzed of prospective study of laparoscopy presacral neurectomy/PSN or laparoscopy uterosacral nerve ablation/LUNA (both open and laparoscopic procedures) for the treatment of pelvic pain (primary and secondary dysmenorrheal). The main outcome measures were pain relief and adverse effects.

Results

We have got 13 sources analysis extracted data on characteristics of the study quality and the population, intervention, and outcome independently. Nine randomized controlled trials were included in the systematic review. There were two trials with open presacral neurectomy; all other trials used laparoscopic techniques. For the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea, laparoscopic uterosacral nerve ablation at 12 months was better when compared to a control or no treatment. The comparison of laparoscopic uterosacral nerve ablation with presacral neurectomy for primary dysmenorrhea showed that at 12 months follow-up, presacral neurectomy was more effective. In secondary dysmenorrhea, along with laparoscopic surgical treatment of endometriosis, the addition of laparoscopic uterosacral nerve ablation did not improve the pain relief, while comparing to presacral neurectomy. Side effects were more common for presacral neurectomy than procedures laparoscopy uterine nerve ablation.

Conclusion

Currently, we have showed that LUNA and PSN can be an option in primary or secondary menstrual pain without endometriosis; LUNA has not been shown to reduce dysmenorrhea and, therefore, should not be advocated as a mainstream treatment except who have persistent dysmenorrhea.


PDF Share
  1. The community prevalence of chronic pelvic pain in women and associated illness behaviour. Brit J Gen Pract 2001;51:541-47.
  2. Chronic pelvic pain. ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 51. Washington, DC: ACOG; March 2004.
  3. The role of laparoscopy in chronic pelvic pain: Promise and pitfalls. Obstet Gynecol Surv 1993;48:357-87.
  4. Chronic pelvic pain in women: Toward an integrative model. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 1993;48:95-110.
  5. Classification of chronic pain. Definitions of chronic pain syndromes and definitions of pain terms. Pain 1986;S1-S221.
  6. Surgical interruption of pelvic nerve pathways for primary and secondary dysmenorrhea. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2005 Oct 19;(4)
  7. SOGC Clinical Practice Guideline; Primary Dysmenorrhea Consensus Guideline JOGC December 2005:1117-30
  8. Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery: Complications of LUNA and Presacral Neurectomy by Laparoscopy: http://laparoscopy.blogs.com/prevention_management/2005/ 12/chapter_23_comp.html
  9. Investigation of the localization of nerves in the uterosacral ligament: Determination of the optimal site for uterosacral nerve ablation. Gynecol Obstet Invest 2002;54Suppl 1:11-17.
  10. Interventions for treating chronic pelvic pain in women. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2005;(2).
  11. ; Laparoscopic presacral neurectomy. In Soderstrom RA, ed; Operative Laparoscopy, The Masters’ Techniques 1993;157-60.
  12. A simplified method of laparoscopic presacral neurectomy for treatment of central pelvic pain due to endometriosis. Br J Obstet Gynecol 1992;99:659-63.
  13. Fibreoptic laser laparoscopy. 1989;545-62.
  14. Laparoscopic uterosacral nerve ablation for intractable dysmenorrhea. In Sutton C, Diamond M ed. Endoscopic surgery for gynaecologists, 159-63. London: WB Saunders, 1993.
  15. Variation in practice of laparoscopic uterosacral nerve ablation: A European survey J Obstet Gynaecol 2004;24:547-51.
  16. Measurement of beliefs about effectiveness of laparoscopic uterosacral nerve ablation. BJOG 2005;112:243-46.
  17. The Sexual Activity Questionnaire: A measure of women's sexual functioning. Qual. Life Res. 1996;5:81-90.
  18. Measuring health-related quality of life. Ann. Intern. Med. 1993;118:622-29.
  19. Pelvic pain syndromes. In Arregui, Fitzgibbons, Katkhouda, McKernan, Reich, eds. Principles of Laparoscopic Surgery: Basic and Advanced Techniques. New York: Springer-Verlag; 1995:545-58.
  20. The efficacy and complications of laparoscopic presacral neurectomy in pelvic pain. Obstet Gynecol. 1997 Dec;90(6):974-77.
  21. Presacral neurectomy for pelvic pain in infertility. Fertil Steril. 1980;34:557-60.
  22. The efficacy of presacral neurectomy for the relief of midline dysmenorrhea. Obstet Gynecol 1990;76:89-91.
  23. Surgical treatment of primary dysmenorrheal with laparoscopic uterine nerve ablation. J Reprod Med 1987;32:37-41.
  24. Presacral neurectomy for the treatment of pelvic pain associated with endometriosis: A controlled study. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1992;167(1):100-03.
  25. Laparoscopic treatment of deep Endometriosis located on the uterosacral ligaments Hum. Reprod., Apr 1996;11:868-73.
  26. Comparison of laparoscopic presacral neurectomy and laparoscopic uterine nerve ablation for primary dysmenorrhea. J Reprod Med. 1996;41:463-66.
  27. Effectiveness of presacral neurectomy in women with severe dysmenorrhea caused by endometriosis who were treated with laparoscopic conservative surgery: A 1-year prospective randomized double-blind controlled trial. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2003;189(1):5-10.
  28. Laparoscopic presacral neurolysis for endometriosis-related pelvic pain; Hum. Reprod, Mar 2003;18:588-92.
  29. Laparoscopic uterosacral ligament resection for dysmenorrhea associated with endometriosis: Results of a randomized, controlled trial. Fertil Steril. 2003;80(2):310-19.
  30. A double-blind randomized controlled trial of laparoscopic uterine nerve ablation for women with chronic pelvic pain. BJOG 2004;111:950-59.
  31. Treatment of primary deep dyspareunia with laparoscopic uterosacral nerve ablation procedure: A pilot study. J Chin Med Assoc 2006;69:110-14.
  32. Surgical interruption of pelvic nerve pathways in dysmenorrhea: A systematic review of effectiveness. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2007;86(1):4-15.
  33. Laparoscopic Uterosacral Nerve Ablation and Chronic Pelvic Pain; J Chin Med Assoc 2006;Vol 69: No 3.
  34. Laparoscopic uterine nerve ablation (LUNA) for chronic pelvic pain. IP Guidance Number: IPG234. London, UK:NICE; October 2007. Available at: http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/IPG234Guidance.pdf. Accessed February 28, 2008.
  35. ESHRE guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis; Human Reproduction 2005;(20)10:2698-2704.
PDF Share
PDF Share

© Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) LTD.