Effect of exercise prescription on dysmenorrhea in patients with adenomyosis after high-intensity focused ultrasound

Abstract:

Objective：To investigate the effect of exercise prescription combined with high-intensity focused ultrasound（HIFU） on dysmenorrhea in patients with adenomyosis. Methods：The patients with adenomyosis who underwent HIFU from January 2017 to March 2018 were enrolled. According to the implementation of exercise prescription（aerobic exercise 150 minutes per week） after surgery，the patients were divided into exercise group and non-exercise group. The patients were followed up at 3，6，and 12 months after surgery to observe visual analogue scale（VAS） score of dysmenorrhea and the change in uterine volume. Results：A total of 217 patients were enrolled，with 115 in the exercise group（the rate of compliance with exercise prescription was 53.0%） and 102 in the non-exercise group. There were no significant differences in baseline data and HIFU regimen between the two groups（P>0.05）. Before surgery，there was no significant difference in VAS score between the two groups（P=0.092），and at 3，6，and 12 months after surgery，the exercise group had a significantly lower VAS score than the non-exercise group[3.0（2.0，4.0）/2.0（0.0，3.0）/2.5（1.0，4.0） vs. 3.5 （3.0，5.0）/4.0（2.0，5.8）/4.５（2.0，6.0），all P<0.01]. At 3 and 6 months after surgery，the medians of the reduction in uterine volume were 9.780 cm3 and 14.046 cm3 in the exercise group and 2.935 cm3 and -2.432 cm3 in the non-exercise group，and the exercise group had a significantly greater reduction in uter－ine volume than the non-exercise group（P<0.01）. Conclusion：Exercise prescription after HIFU can effectively reduce VAS score，alle－viate the symptom of dysmenorrhea，and reduce uterine volume. Therefore，exercise prescription can be used as a rehabilitation treatment regimen for adenomyosis after HIFU and can improve patients’ self-evaluation.