CHILL-ENDO-1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An exploratory clinical trial to determine the impact of whole-body cryotherapy on endometriosis-associated pain
IRAS ID
366671
Contact name
Andrew Horne
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
This study will use cryotherapy to see if it reduces pain in patients with endometriosis related pain. Endometriosis is a condition that affects one in ten women or those assigned female at birth and causes pain, infertility and can reduce quality of life. The pain experienced is associated with chronic inflammation. At the moment available treatments have unacceptable side effects and are often hormonal and are contraceptive. There is an unmet need to find new treatments. Whole body cryotherapy, where patients are exposed for a brief period to extremely cold, dry air may reduce this inflammatory response. We will recruit 30 women over a period of 12 months from NHS Lothian. Once eligibility has been confirmed the participant will be asked to attend five sessions over a two week period. We
will collect questionnaires to assess pain scores and quality of life information before and after treatment and then 15 weeks post treatment. We will also collect biological samples including blood, urine, saliva, faeces and a vaginal swab, some of the samples will be taken by the patient at home. This is to look at any biological changes in inflammation and stress hormones.REC name
London - Dulwich Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/LO/0049
Date of REC Opinion
19 Feb 2026
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion