Dilemmas in diagnosing pelvic pain: multiple pelvic surgeries common in women with interstitial cystitis

We determined the prevalence of pelvic surgeries in women with interstitial cystitis (IC) compared to community-based controls through responses to a survey from 215 women with IC and 823 controls. Women with IC had a statistically higher prevalence of hysterectomies (cases = 42.3%, controls = 21.4%), bladder suspensions (cases = 21.9%, controls = 5.7), pelvic or genital surgeries other than cystoscopy (cases = 26.5%, controls = 16.2%), and laparoscopic pelvic surgeries (cases = 22.8%, controls = 8.3%). Women with IC more commonly had been diagnosed with endometriosis (cases = 25.6%, controls = 9.8%) and fibroids (cases = 24.2%, controls = 16.3%). Of women with IC who had hysterectomies, 68% of the hysterectomies were done before their diagnosis of IC, and only 21% were done after their IC diagnosis. The diagnosis of IC occurred 1–5 years after hysterectomy in most cases. Women with IC have significantly more pelvic surgeries than controls. The majority of these surgeries were done before the diagnosis of IC and may be performed for pain related to undiagnosed IC. Similar content being viewed by others

Skene AC (1887) Diseases of the bladder and urethra in women. William Wood, New York, p 167 Clemens JQ, Meenan RT, O'Keeffe MC, Brown SO, Gao SY, Calhoun EA (2005) Prevalence of interstitial cystitis symptoms in a managed care population. J Urol 174(2):576–580 Propert KJ, Schaeffer AJ, Brensinger CM, Kusek JW, Nyberg LM, Landis JR (2004) A prospective study of interstitial cystitis: results of longitudinal follow up of the interstitial cystitis data base cohort. J Urol 163(5):1434–1439 Executive Committee Summary (2004) In: Interstitial Cystitis EpidemiologyTask Force Meeting. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, October 29, 2003. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda Ibrahim IA, Diokno AC, Killinger KA, Carrico DJ, Peters KM (2007) Prevalence of self-reported interstitial cystitis (IC) and interstitial-cystitis-like symptoms among adult women in the community. Int Urol Nephrol 39:489–495 Simon LJ, Landis R, Erickson DR, Nyberg LM (1997) The interstitial cystitis database study: concepts and preliminary baseline descriptive statistics. Urol 49(Suppl 5A):64–75 Stanford EJ, Koziol J, Feng A (2005) The prevalence of interstitial cystitis, endometriosis, adhesions, and vulvar pain in women with chronic pelvic pain. J Minim Invasive Gynecol 12(1):43–49 Keshavarz H, Hillis SD, Kieke BA, Marchbanks PA (2002) Hysterectomy surveillance—United States, 1994–1999. In: CDC Surveillance Summaries, July 12, 2002. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 51(SS-5):1–8 Stovall TG, Ling FW, Crawford DA (1990) Hysterectomy for chronic pelvic pain of presumed uterine etiology. Obstet Gynecol 75(4):676–679 Hillis SD, Marchbanks PA, Peterson HB (1995) The effectiveness of hysterectomy for chronic pelvic pain. Obstet Gynecol 86(6):941–945 Koziol JA, Clark DC, Gittes RF, Tan EM (1993) The natural history of interstitial cystitis: a survey of 374 patients. J Urol 149(3):465–469 Butrick CW (2003) Interstitial cystitis and chronic pelvic pain: new insights in neuropathology, diagnosis, and treatment. Clin Obstet Gynecol 46(4):811–823 Pezzone MA, Liang R, Fraser MO (2005) A model of neural cross-talk and irritation in the pelvis: implications for the overlap of chronic pelvic pain disorders. Gastroenterology 128:1953–1964 Peters KM, Carrico DJ (2006) Frequency, urgency, and pelvic pain: treating the pelvic floor versus the epithelium. Curr Urol Rep 7(6):450–455 Parsons CL, Dell J, Stanford EJ, Bullen M, Kahn BS, Willems JJ (2002) The prevalence of interstitial cystitis in gynecologic patients with pelvic pain, as detected by intravesical potassium sensitivity. Am J Obstet Gynecol 187(5):1395–1400 Kuo HC (2003) Urodynamic study and potassium sensitivity test for women with frequency-urgency syndrome and interstitial cystitis. Urol Int 71(1):61–65 Gregoire M, Liandier F, Naud A, Lacombe L, Fradet Y (2002) Does the potassium stimulation test predict cystometric, cystoscopic outcome in interstitial cystitis. J Urol 168:556–557 Parsons CL, Dell J, Stanford EJ, Bullen M, Kahn BS, Waxell T, Koziol JA (2002) Increased prevalence of interstitial cystitis previously unrecognized urologic and gynecologic cases identified using a new symptom questionnaire and intravesical potassium sensitivity. Urology 60(4):573–578 Author information Authors and Affiliations Corresponding author Rights and permissions About this article Cite this article Ingber, M.S., Peters, K.M., Killinger, K.A. et al. Dilemmas in diagnosing pelvic pain: multiple pelvic surgeries common in women with interstitial cystitis. Int Urogynecol J 19, 341–345 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-007-0453-2 Received: Accepted: Published: Issue date: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-007-0453-2