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Query: UMLS:C0030794 (pelvic pain)
 4,056 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The purpose of this article is to review progress in the field of abdominopelvic adhesions and the validity of its two underlying assumptions: (1) The formation of adhesions results in infertility, bowel obstruction, or other complications. Reducing or avoiding adhesions will curb these sequelae. (2) "Adhesions" is a monolithic entity to be tackled without regard to any other condition. Evidence is discussed to validate the first assumption. We reviewed progress in the field by examining hospital data. We found a growing trend in the number and cost of discharges for just two adhesion-related diagnoses, and the low usage of adhesion barriers appears in at most 5% of appropriate procedures. Data from an Internet-based survey suggested that the problem may be partly due to ignorance among patients and physicians about adhesions and their prevention. Two other surveys of patients visiting the adhesions.org Web site defined more fully adhesion-related disorder (ARD). The first survey ( N = 466) described a patient with chronic pain, gastrointestinal disturbances, an average of nine bowel obstructions, and an inability to work or maintain family or social relationships. The second survey (687 U.S. women) found a high (co-) prevalence of abdominal or pelvic adhesions (85%), chronic abdominal or pelvic pain (69%), irritable bowel syndrome (55%), recurrent bowel obstruction (44%), endometriosis (40%), and interstitial cystitis (29%). This pattern suggests that although "adhesions" may start out as a monolithic entity, an adhesions patient may develop related conditions (ARD) until they merge into an independent entity where they are practically indistinguishable from patients with multiple symptoms originating from other abdominopelvic conditions such as pelvic or bladder pain. Rather than use terms that constrain the required multidisciplinary, biopsychosocial approach to these patients by the paradigms of the specialty related to the patient's initial symptom set, the term complex abdominopelvic and pain syndrome (CAPPS) is proposed. It is essential to understand not only the pathogenesis of the "initiating" conditions but also how they progress to CAPPS. In our ARD sample, not only was the frequency of women with hysterectomies (56%) higher than expected (21 to 33%), but also the rates of the "initiating" conditions was 40 to 400% higher in patients with hysterectomies than in those without. This may represent increased surgical trauma or the loss of protection against oxidative stress. Related was the higher frequency of ARD patients reporting hemochromatosis (HC; 5%) than expected (~0.5%) and the higher rates (20 to 700%) of initiating conditions in patients with HC than in those without HC. Together with findings related to the toxicity of Intergel, these findings raise the possibility that heterozygotes for genes regulating oxidative stress are at greater risk of developing surgical complications as well as more severe and progressive conditions such as CAPPS.
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PMID:Disorders of adhesions or adhesion-related disorder: monolithic entities or part of something bigger--CAPPS? 1875 13

Growing clinical and scientific data imply that the condition currently called interstitial cystitis is not just a mere bladder end-organ disease but that the symptoms perceived to be related to the bladder are rather one aspect of a complex pelvic pain syndrome. The term bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (BPS/IC) suggested by the European Society for the Study of IC/PBS (ESSIC) for this condition is currently the only one strictly consistent with the taxonomy guidelines of the European Association of Urology and the International Association for the Study of Pain. BPS would be diagnosed on the basis of chronic pelvic pain, pressure, or discomfort perceived to be related to the urinary bladder, accompanied by at least one other urinary symptom such as persistent urge to void or urinary frequency. Confusable diseases as the cause of the symptoms must be excluded. Classification of BPS types might be performed according to findings at cystoscopy with hydrodistention and morphologic findings in bladder biopsies. The end-organ condition interstitial cystitis has thus become a chronic pain syndrome with a predominantly neurovisceral pathophysiology. In daily practice, therapeutic approaches aiming at both the peripheral bladder urothelium and central nervous targets should be combined. A multimodal treatment strategy, such as the combination of tricyclic antidepressants with instillation therapy, still appears reasonable and justified.
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PMID:[From end-organ disease to a classifiable bladder pain syndrome: paradigm shift in the understanding of urological pain syndromes exemplified by the condition currently called interstitial cystitis]. 1894 52

The proper management of pain is a critical issue in the practice of medicine. Despite the availability of a large number of analgesic medications, management of pain that is refractory to conventional treatments remains a challenge for both clinicians and surgeons. Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) has recently emerged as a potential novel approach to control pain. Animal studies have revealed a number of mechanisms by which BoNTs can influence and alleviate chronic pain, including inhibition of pain peptide release from nerve terminals and sensory ganglia, anti-inflammatory and antiglutaminergic effects, reduction of sympathetic neural discharge, and inhibition of muscle spindle discharge. In humans, prospective, placebo-controlled, double-blind studies have also provided evidence for effectiveness of BoNT therapy in a number of painful disorders. These include cervical dystonia, pelvic pain, low back pain, plantar fasciitis, postsurgical painful spasms, myofascial pain syndromes, migraine, and chronic daily headaches. Long-term studies on cervical dystonia and low back pain have demonstrated safety and sustained efficacy after repeated injections. This Review focuses on the analgesic effects of BoNT and the mechanisms of its pain control as revealed by animal models, and provides evidence-based data on the efficacy of BoNT therapy in various pain syndromes in humans.
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PMID:Botulinum neurotoxins in the treatment of refractory pain. 1904 24

Chronic pelvic pain occurs in about 15% of women and has a variety of causes requiring accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment if pain reduction is to be effected. Superficial conditions such as provoked vestibulodynia and deeper pelvic issues such as pelvic floor myalgia were traditionally difficult to diagnose and adequately treat. For provoked vestibulodynia, there are limited data, in the form of case reports and small series, to indicate that botulinum toxin (BoNT) injections may provide short-term (3-6 months) benefit. Retreatment is reported to be successful and side effects are few. Class-I studies are essential to adequately assess this form of treatment. For pelvic floor myalgia, 1 class-I study and 3 class-II to -III studies indicate efficacy of BoNT. In the only double-blind, randomized, controlled study, significant reduction in pelvic floor pressures with significant pain reduction for some types of pelvic pain are reported compared with baseline. No differences in pain occurred compared with the control group who had physical therapy as an intervention. Physical therapy should be used as a noninvasive first-line treatment, with BoNT injections reserved for those who are refractory to treatment. Pelvic floor disorders should be considered as a cause for chronic pelvic pain in women and an attempt made to diagnose and treat such problems as a routine practice. The use of BoNT as a therapeutic option for pelvic floor muscle spasm and pain is still in its infancy. Initial reports suggest that there may be a significant role for women with chronic pain that is refractory to currently available medical and surgical treatments, however, there are very few high-quality studies and research is essential before this novel treatment can be accepted into widespread use for pelvic pain attributable to the pelvic floor.
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PMID:The use of botulinum toxin in the pelvic floor for women with chronic pelvic pain-a new answer to old problems? 1916 73

The mechanism of visceral pain is still less understood compared with that of somatic pain. This is primarily due to the diverse nature of visceral pain compounded by multiple factors such as sexual dimorphism, psychological stress, genetic trait, and the nature of predisposed disease. Due to multiple contributing factors there is an enormous challenge to develop animal models that ideally mimic the exact disease condition. In spite of that, it is well recognized that visceral hypersensitivity can occur due to (1) sensitization of primary sensory afferents innervating the viscera, (2) hyperexcitability of spinal ascending neurons (central sensitization) receiving synaptic input from the viscera, and (3) dysregulation of descending pathways that modulate spinal nociceptive transmission. Depending on the type of stimulus condition, different neural pathways are involved in chronic pain. In early-life psychological stress such as maternal separation, chronic pain occurs later in life due to dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and significant increase in corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF) secretion. In contrast, in early-life inflammatory conditions such as colitis and cystitis, there is dysregulation of the descending opioidergic system that results excessive pain perception (i.e., visceral hyperalgesia). Functional bowel disorders and chronic pelvic pain represent unexplained pain that is not associated with identifiable organic diseases. Often pain overlaps between two organs and approximately 35% of patients with chronic pelvic pain showed significant improvement when treated for functional bowel disorders. Animal studies have documented that two main components such as (1) dichotomy of primary afferent fibers innervating two pelvic organs and (2) common convergence of two afferent fibers onto a spinal dorsal horn are contributing factors for organ-to-organ pain overlap. With reports emerging about the varieties of peptide molecules involved in the pathological conditions of visceral pain, it is expected that better therapy will be achieved relatively soon to manage chronic visceral pain.
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PMID:Visceral pain: the neurophysiological mechanism. 1965 4

Approximately 10% of the population suffers from chronic pain in the urogenital region. The multidimensionality of this chronic pain syndrome must be taken into consideration.The cause of urologic chronic pelvic pain syndrome (UCPPS) is mostly unclear. Treatment of these patients should be carried out in specialized institutions.
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PMID:[Options for pain therapy of urologic chronic pelvic pain syndrome (UCPPS)]. 1977 1

Interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS) is a chronic syndrome characterized by irritative voiding symptoms and pelvic pain or discomfort. IC/PBS represents localized bladder pathophysiologic changes and central nervous system upregulation. Patients exhibit bladder hyperalgesia and allodynia. Childhood sexual abuse occurs in up to 27% of females in the United States. Adults with a prior history of abuse or traumatization demonstrate hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis abnormalities, similar to IC/PBS patients. Childhood sexual abuse and physical traumatization are associated with subsequent lifelong risks of chronic pain syndromes. IC/PBS patients have increased rates of sexual abuse or physical traumatization histories compared with controls. IC/PBS patients with abuse histories tend to have greater pain intensity and lesser irritative voiding symptoms compared with nonabused IC/PBS patients. This article reviews the relationship between sexual abuse, HPA axis abnormalities, IC/PBS pathophysiology, and the role of sexual abuse on subsequent IC/PBS.
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PMID:The relationship between sexual abuse and interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome. 1986 55

Chronic pain is prevalent among patients with depression and a risk factor for poor depression treatment outcomes. No known psychotherapy approaches have been developed to target the needs of patients with comorbid depression and chronic pain. This study's goals were to evaluate feasibility, acceptability, and initial effects of interpersonal psychotherapy adapted for women with depression and chronic pain. Seventeen women with major depression and chronic pelvic pain were offered 8 sessions of individual treatment, interpersonal psychotherapy for depression and pain (IPT-P). Participants were recruited from a women's health clinic, were predominantly low-income and minority, and generally did not initially self-identify as depressed. Large effect sizes with significant improvements were found for depression severity and social adjustment; pain interference remained unchanged. Most enrolled patients reported a high level of satisfaction with IPT-P. This pilot study provides preliminary support for the use of IPT-P for patients with comorbid depression and chronic pain.
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PMID:Interpersonal psychotherapy for women with comorbid depression and chronic pain. 2069 27

Widespread central hypersensitivity is present in chronic pain and contributes to pain and disability. According to animal studies, expansion of receptive fields of spinal cord neurons is involved in central hypersensitivity. We recently developed a method to quantify nociceptive receptive fields in humans using spinal withdrawal reflexes. Here we hypothesized that patients with chronic pelvic pain display enlarged reflex receptive fields. Secondary endpoints were subjective pain thresholds and nociceptive withdrawal reflex thresholds after single and repeated (temporal summation) electrical stimulation. 20 patients and 25 pain-free subjects were tested. Electrical stimuli were applied to 10 sites on the foot sole for evoking reflexes in the tibialis anterior muscle. The reflex receptive field was defined as the area of the foot (fraction of the foot sole) from which a muscle contraction was evoked. For the secondary endpoints, the stimuli were applied to the cutaneous innervation area of the sural nerve. Medians (25-75 percentiles) of fraction of the foot sole in patients and controls were 0.48 (0.38-0.54) and 0.33 (0.27-0.39), respectively (P=0.008). Pain and reflex thresholds after sural nerve stimulation were significantly lower in patients than in controls (P<0.001 for all measurements). This study provides for the first time evidence for widespread expansion of reflex receptive fields in chronic pain patients. It thereby identifies a mechanism involved in central hypersensitivity in human chronic pain. Reverting the expansion of nociceptive receptive fields and exploring the prognostic meaning of this phenomenon may become future targets of clinical research.
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PMID:Generalized expansion of nociceptive reflex receptive fields in chronic pain patients. 2092 91

Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is a debilitating syndrome of unknown etiology often postulated, but not proven, to be associated with microbial infection of the prostate gland. We hypothesized that infection of the prostate by clinically relevant uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) can initiate and establish chronic pain. We utilized an E. coli strain newly isolated from a patient with CP/CPPS (strain CP1) and examined its molecular pathogenesis in cell culture and in a murine model of bacterial prostatitis. We found that CP1 is an atypical isolate distinct from most UPEC in its phylotype and virulence factor profile. CP1 adhered to, invaded, and proliferated within prostate epithelia and colonized the prostate and bladder of NOD and C57BL/6J mice. Using behavioral measures of pelvic pain, we showed that CP1 induced and sustained chronic pelvic pain in NOD mice, an attribute not exhibited by a clinical cystitis strain. Furthermore, pain was observed to persist even after bacterial clearance from genitourinary tissues. CP1 induced pelvic pain behavior exclusively in NOD mice and not in C57BL/6J mice, despite comparable levels of colonization and inflammation. Microbial infections can thus serve as initiating agents for chronic pelvic pain through mechanisms that are dependent on both the virulence of the bacterial strain and the genetic background of the host.
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PMID:Uropathogenic Escherichia coli induces chronic pelvic pain. 2747 86


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