Chronic pelvic pain syndrome-related diagnoses in an outpatient office setting.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a syndrome composed of one or more pain diagnoses arising from pelvic organs. Although the prevalence of many individual diagnoses has been determined in a variety of settings, the concurrent assessment of overlapping pain syndromes in an outpatient gynecology clinic, which would be most pertinent to practitioners, has not been reported.

METHODS:

Patients waiting to be seen in an outpatient general gynecology clinic completed a survey composed of validated instruments for different pain diagnoses. Cyclic and constant CPP, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), interstitial cystitis (IC), and vulvodynia (VVD) were assessed.

RESULTS:

In the 498 completed surveys, 24% of patients met at least one criterion for CPP, and of these, 23% also met criteria for a second diagnosis. Of all patients, 15% reported symptoms consistent with IBS, 6% with IC, and 5% with VVD. Cyclic CPP was found in 20%, and of these patients, 30% had at least one other CPP-related diagnosis.

DISCUSSION:

Although limited by its design as a survey, this study demonstrates that CPP frequently (between 30 and 43%) occurs with other pain syndromes. Clinicians should be prepared to evaluate nongynecologic causes of pelvic pain.

• Authors: B W Fenton, L Brobeck, E Witten, V Von Gruenigen
• Journal: Gynecologic and obstetric investigation (Gynecol Obstet Invest) Vol. 74 Issue 1 Pg. 64-7 ( 2012) ISSN: 1423-002X [Electronic] Switzerland
• PMID: 22571935 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Ambulatory Care
• Chronic Pain (diagnosis, epidemiology)
• Cystitis, Interstitial (diagnosis, epidemiology)
• Female
• Health Surveys
• Humans
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (diagnosis, epidemiology)
• Middle Aged
• Pelvic Pain (diagnosis, epidemiology)
• Prevalence
• Surveys and Questionnaires
• Vulvodynia (diagnosis, epidemiology)
• Young Adult