The 4th International Consultation on Sexual Medicine is accredited by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME) to provide the following CME activity for medical specialists. The EACCME is an institution of the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS), www.uems.net.

The '4th International Consultation on Sexual Medicine' is designated for a maximum of (or 'for up to') 13 hours of European external CME credits. Each medical specialist should claim only those hours of credit that he/she actually spent in the educational activity.

Through an agreement between the European Union of Medical Specialists and the American Medical Association, physicians may convert EACCME credits to an equivalent number of AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Information on the process to convert EACCME credit to AMA credit can be found at www.ama-assn.org/go/internationalcme.

Live educational activities, occurring outside of Canada, recognized by the UEMS-EACCME for ECMEC credits are deemed to be Accredited Group Learning Activities (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

A research team from China and the United States has developed an acupuncture protocol for treatment of vulvodynia. A recent study has found that the protocol is "feasible" and worthy of further research.

Women with vulvodynia experience chronic pain and discomfort in the vulvar area - the external genitals surrounding the vagina. The slightest touch can induce pain, which makes sexual intercourse difficult. 

Past studies on acupuncture and vulvodynia have had encouraging results. This study evaluated a specific acupuncture protocol. 

The study involved 36 women with vulvodynia. Half of them received acupuncture twice a week for five weeks. The other half were not treated during the study period. 

After five weeks, the women in the acupuncture group had less vulvar pain and less pain during intercourse compared to the untreated women. 

While the results were positive, the authors advised caution. Future research would need to determine whether the treated women saw improvements because of this protocol, acupuncture in general, or a placebo effect. It is also unclear whether the benefits would be maintained over time. 

The study was published online in January in the Journal of Sexual Medicine. Please click here for more details.