Frank F. Tu

OBJECTIVE: Incomplete pain relief after administration of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is common, but it is unknown whether malabsorption or heightened metabolism contributes to NSAID resistance. To explain the etiology of …

Oxytocin-dependent mechanisms are hypothesized to contribute to painful menses, but clinical trials of oxytocin antagonists for dysmenorrhea have had divergent outcomes. In contrast, broader studies have shown that increased systemic oxytoc…

Menstrual pain, also known as dysmenorrhea, is a leading risk factor for bladder pain syndrome (BPS). A better understanding of the mechanisms that predispose dysmenorrheic women to BPS is needed to develop prophylactic strategies. Abnormal…

BACKGROUND: Dysmenorrhea is a pervasive pain condition that affects 20-50% of reproductive-aged women. Distension of a visceral organ, such as the uterus, could elicit a visceromotor reflex, resulting in involuntary skeletal muscle activity…

BACKGROUND: The lack of noninvasive methods to study dysmenorrhea has resulted in poor understanding of the mechanisms underlying pain, insufficient diagnostic tests, and limited treatment options. To address this knowledge gap, we have dev…

INTRODUCTION: Prior research has suggested that changes in the MR signal occur in the myometrial layer in women with dysmenorrhea. Since the mechanisms of dysmenorrhea are poorly understood, characterization of the relationship between MR s…

BACKGROUND: Dysmenorrhea is a common risk factor for chronic pain conditions including bladder pain syndrome. Few studies have formally evaluated asymptomatic bladder pain sensitivity in dysmenorrhea, and whether this largely reflects exces…

Although nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs can alleviate menstrual pain, about 18% of women with dysmenorrhea are unresponsive, leaving them and their physicians to pursue less well-studied strategies. The goal of this review is to provid…

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The objective of this study is to review an evidence-based approach to surgical treatment of key chronic pelvic pain (CPP) contributors emphasizing the importance of preoperative evaluation and counseling. RECENT FINDING…

Abstract This chapter presents a clinical case of chronic pelvic pain. Chronic pelvic pain correlates more closely with central changes in regional brain morphology and function rather than pelvic pathology. The condition is less dependent …

OBJECTIVE: We sought to evaluate candidate mechanisms underlying the pelvic floor dysfunction in women with chronic pelvic pain (CPP) and/or painful bladder syndrome (PBS)/interstitial cystitis. Notably, prior studies have not consistently …

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the influence of prior oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use on future diagnosis of endometriosis in young women. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study, the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. SETTING: Community…

OBJECTIVE: Catheterization to measure bladder sensitivity is aversive and hinders human participation in visceral sensory research. Therefore, we sought to characterize the reliability of sonographically estimated female bladder sensory thr…

OBJECTIVE: To serve as a pilot feasibility study for a randomized study of excision versus ablation in the treatment of endometriosis by (1) estimating the magnitude of change in symptoms after excision only at multiple referral centers and…

Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a frustrating clinical condition affecting roughly 9 million women each year. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists defines the disorder as noncyclic lower abdominal pain persisting for at leas…

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether women with chronic pelvic pain and variable degrees of endometriosis demonstrate altered pain sensitivity relative to pain-free healthy women in a control group and whether such differences are related to the…

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Female chronic pelvic pain is prevalent and causes disability. Can women with self-reported chronic pelvic pain (CPP) be distinguished from pain-free women by demonstrating a greater number of abnormal musculosk…

Obstetrician/gynecologists often are the initial management clinicians for pelvic neuropathic pain. Although treatment may require comprehensive team management and consultation with other specialists, there are a few critical and basic ste…

Disorders of the musculoskeletal elements interconnecting the female pelvic girdle and lumbosacral spine are commonly found in patients with symptomatic chronic pelvic pain. This chapter links the known anatomy and pathophysiology to an und…

OBJECTIVE: To determine if women with self-reported chronic pelvic pain (CPP) were more likely to have positive findings on two vaginal pelvic floor muscle (PFM) tests compared to women without CPP when the examiner was blinded to pain stat…

Neville, Cynthia; Mallinson, Trudy PhD, OTR/L; Badillo, Suzanne A.; Fitzgerald, Colleen M.; Hynes, Christina; Tu, Frank Author Information