Multidisciplinary Approaches to Pelvic Pain Treatment

Abstract Patients often do their own online research and then attempt to gain a diagnosis through primary care physicians, gynecologists, urologists, and/or gastroenterologists. For this reason, the treatment needs of the patient may lie outside of the diagnosing provider’s particular area of expertise. Despite this limitation, the diagnosing provider is well positioned to help a person with pelvic pain formulate an effective treatment plan by implementing an interdisciplinary treatment approach. Because treatment protocols do not exist, a treatment algorithm can be used to illustrate evidence-based treatment options that can be used successfully in varying combinations. The first part of this chapter discusses four conservative therapeutic domains (physical therapy, psychosocial behavioral health, pharmacological therapy, interventional pain management). The second part of the chapter discusses how to use clinical critical reasoning strategies to manage the patient who is not tolerating or not responding to the treatment plan.