Gastroenterology clinics of North America

Pancreatic duct (PD) strictures, leaks, and disconnected ducts are important morphologic consequences of inflammatory disease of the pancreas, resulting in abdominal pain, pancreatic ascites, pancreatic pleural effusion, and external pancre…

Endometriosis, affecting 5-10% of reproductive-age women, is a common contributor to dysmenorrhea and chronic pelvic pain. Diagnosis requires laparoscopic tissue biopsy, but careful pelvic examination, and/or imaging with either ultrasound …

Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is steroid-responsive fibroinflammatory disorder of the pancreas. There are 2 distinct subtypes of AIP, types 1 and 2. Type 1 is associated with systemic immunoglobulin (Ig)G4 disease and may affect multiple or…

Ulcerative colitis and Crohn disease are chronic inflammatory diseases with typical onset in early adulthood. These diseases, therefore, can affect a woman throughout the many stages of her life, including menstruation, sexuality, pregnancy…

Chronic pelvic pain is pain lasting longer than 6 months and is estimated to occur in 15% of women. Causes of pelvic pain include disorders of gynecologic, urologic, gastroenterologic, and musculoskeletal systems. The multidisciplinary natu…

Several organic and functional disorders of the urinary bladder, reproductive tract, anorectum, and the pelvic floor musculature cause pelvic pain. This article describes functional disorders in which chronic pelvic and anorectal pain canno…

Functional anorectal and pelvic pain syndromes represent a diverse group of disorders that affect the quality of life and about which many physicians possess little understanding. Nongynecologic causes include levator ani syndrome, proctalg…

In the United States, four diseases account for the vast majority of cases of lower intestinal bleeding: arteriovenous malformation, diverticulosis, neoplasms, and internal hemorrhoids. In this article the authors discuss less frequent caus…