Background: Persistent pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain (PGP) and the resulting consequences may considerably influence a woman's quality of life. The complexity of this condition requires a whole-person centered approach. In response to COVID-19 outbreak, telerehabilitation has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional in-person visits.
Purpose: The aim of this report was to present the potential of telerehabilitation for persistent postpartum PGP within the biopsychosocial framework.
Case description: A 26-year-old female presented with persistent pregnancy-related PGP of 8 months duration after her first vaginal delivery. The video-consults were performed using telerehabilitation platform. The patient received six telerehabilitation consults of 45 min duration over five weeks. Assessment of physical and psychosocial factors, cognitively focused strategies including pain neurophysiology education, sensory-motor remapping exercises, and graded increase of activity were administered. Rehabilitation was divided into the following phases: assessment, desensitization, graded exposure, and supported independence.
Outcomes: The Pelvic Girdle Questionnaire (PGQ) score was significantly reduced from 72.2 during the assessment to 15.3 at discharge. This change was significantly more substantial than the minimal clinically important change estimated for the PGQ.
Conclusion: Physiotherapists can utilize telerehabilitation to assist them with enacting appropriate care measures for persistent PGP within a biopsychosocial framework.
Keywords: Pelvic girdle pain; postpartum period; telerehabilitation.