Pelvic denervation procedures for dysmenorrhea

Christina M. Ramirez, Christina Ramirez, Nicole Donnellan
Current opinion in obstetrics & gynecology · 2017 · vol. 29(4) , pp. 225–230 · doi:10.1097/gco.0000000000000379 · PMID:28683027 · W2732572569
review OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 6 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This review details surgical pelvic denervation techniques and their efficacy for dysmenorrhea, highlighting presacral neurectomy as a preferred procedure for midline pain, especially with endometriosis.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Chronic pelvic pain and dysmenorrhea are common conditions affecting reproductive-age women. Surgical pelvic denervation procedures may be a treatment option for women with midline dysmenorrhea, in which medical management is declined by the patient, ineffective at managing symptoms, or medically contraindicated. This review describes the surgical techniques and complications associated with pelvic denervation procedures as well as the current evidence for these procedures in women with primary dysmenorrhea and dysmenorrhea secondary to endometriosis. RECENT FINDINGS: Presacral neurectomy is the preferred pelvic denervation procedure in patients with primary dysmenorrhea and midline chronic pelvic pain associated with endometriosis. In patients with endometriosis presacral neurectomy is a useful adjunct to excision or ablation of all endometrial lesions to improve postoperative pain relief. There is no additional patient benefit of performing combined presacral neurectomy and uterine nerve ablation procedures. SUMMARY: Pelvic denervation procedures can be performed safely and quickly with a low risk of complication if the surgeon is knowledgeable and skilled in operating in the presacral space. Patients should be adequately counseled on expected success rates and potential complications associated with pelvic denervation procedures.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

dysmenorrheaendometriosischronic_pelvic_pain

MeSH descriptors

Denervation Dysmenorrhea Endometriosis Pelvis Chronic Pain Dysmenorrhea Dysmenorrhea Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Laparoscopy Pelvic Pain Pelvic Pain Pelvis Robotic Surgical Procedures Surgeons Uterine Diseases Uterine Diseases Uterus

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (31)

Cited by (6)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-16T06:07:01.518242+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:20:19.560968+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-06-16T06:25:30.133384+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK