Highlights
- •Hyaluronic acid injection to vulva is one of the treatment methods of vaginal dryness especially in postmenopausal women.
- •Vestibulodynia is a challenging problem for women, and it does not have a precisely defined treatment in patients without an etiology is found.
- •Women with vestibulodynia may benefit from vulvar hyaluronic acid injection.
Abstract
Objective
Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) is a challenging and distressing problem for women.
The aim of this study was to examine the effect of hyaluronic acid (HA) in the management
of this condition.
Method
This is a retrospective review of 12 women diagnosed with PVD and treated with HA
(19 mg/mL) applied, point-by-point, to the vestibular region at 2 mm intervals and
at a depth of 0.5 mm. Women completed a pain VAS and a Female Sexual Function Index
(FSFI) before and 45 days after treatment.
Results
An improvement was observed both in mean FSFI scores (17.8 to 23.3; p = 0.003) and
mean VAS scores (7.2 to 4.1; p = 0.002) after HA application respectively. However,
on a telephone interview 3 months post treatment, five women (41.7 %) complained of
recurrence of their dyspareunia.
Conclusion
HA is a promising management option in provoked vestibulodynia. However, further larger
studies with possible alternative regimens and longer follow-up are required.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 03, 2022
Accepted:
October 30,
2022
Received in revised form:
September 6,
2022
Received:
June 9,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
