OBJECTIVE To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on chronic pelvic pain in patients with sequelae of pelvic inflammatory disease. METHODS A total of 144 patients with chronic pelvic pain were randomly divided into an observation group (72 cases, 10 cases dropped off) and a control group (72 cases, 9 cases dropped off). The patients in the control group were treated with ibuprofen sustained-release capsules 10 days before menstruation, 0.3 g each time, once a day. On the basis of the treatment of the control group, the patients in the observation group were treated with EA at Guanyuan (CV 4), Shuidao (ST 28), Guilai (ST 29), Shenshu (BL 23) and Ciliao (BL 32), disperse-dense wave, 2 Hz/15 Hz of frequency, once a day. The patients in both groups were treated for 10 days per menstrual cycle for 3 menstrual cycles. The visual analogue scale (VAS) scores of lower abdomen and lumbosacral area, local sign score, quality of life scale score and pain disappearance rate were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. RESULTS The VAS scores of lower abdomen and lumbosacral area as well as each item score and total score of local signs in the observation group after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment and those in the control group (P<0.05). Compared before treatment, the scores of physiological, psychological, social and environmental domains of the quality of life scale in the observation group were significantly increased after treatment (P<0.05); the score of physiological domain in the control group after treatment was significantly higher than that before treatment (P<0.05); the score of physiological domain in the observation group was higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). The pain disappearance rate was 87.1% (54/62) in the observation group, which was higher than 46.0% (29/63) in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS EA can relieve the pain symptoms in patients with chronic pelvic pain and improve their quality of life.