Vulvodynia: A Review of the Literature

Objective: To evaluate the literature and educate the pharmacy community about the different treatment options for vulvodynia. Data Sources: Searches were performed through MEDLINE (1946-May 2018) using OVID and EBSCOhost, and Excerpta Medica (1974-May 2018) using EMBASE. Search terms included vulvar vestibulitis syndrome, vestibulodynia, vulvodynia, vulvar pain, provoked vulvar vestibulitis, and vulvodynia treatment. References of all relevant articles were then used to find additional applicable articles. Study Selection and Data Extraction: This review includes articles in the English language and human trial literature. Twenty-five trials explored the use of oral and topical medications in the treatment of vulvodynia. Data Synthesis: Vulvodynia is a poorly understood disease with an unknown etiology. Oral tricyclic antidepressants and gabapentin continue to be the most commonly used treatments for vulvodynia pain. This is due to their ease of use and patient preference. Topical treatments that have efficacy data are amitriptyline, gabapentin, lidocaine, baclofen, and hormones. This route of administration avoids systemic adverse effects and interpatient variability that accompanies oral administration. Alternative therapies more commonly used include physiotherapy, psychotherapy, and surgery. Treatment length may vary due to dose titrations and potential changes in medication therapy. Conclusions: Several medication and alternative therapies may be effective in treating vulvodynia. Current studies used wide dosing ranges, making it difficult to standardize therapy. No consistent method of assessing pain was used between studies, as well as a limited number being randomized and placebo controlled. Additional research is needed to increase knowledge and further develop vulvodynia treatments.