Epidemiology of Chronic Pelvic Pain

Definition The most commonly used definition of chronic pelvic pain (CPP) for research purposes is “Recurrent or constant pain in the lower abdominal region that has lasted for at least 6 months.” The International Association for the Study of Pain (1986) defines CPP without obvious pathology (CPPWOP) as “chronic or recurrent pelvic pain that cannot be sufficiently explained by an apparent physical cause.” The definition assumes a causal link between pelvic pathology and pain, which clinical experience and the published literature would suggest is not always the case. Since then, two further definitions have been suggested. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (2004) has proposed a definition of CPP as “non-cyclical pain of at least 6 months’ duration that appears in locations such as the pelvis, anterior abdominal wall, lower back, or buttocks, and that is serious enough to... 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(2006). Issues in investigating the aetiology of chronic pelvic pain. Response to Latthe P, Mignini L, Gray R, Hills R, Khan K. Factors predisposing women to chronic pelvic pain: Systematic review. BMJ, 332(7544), 749–755. Author information Authors and Affiliations Corresponding author Editor information Editors and Affiliations Rights and permissions Copyright information © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg About this entry Cite this entry Broderick, A., Kennedy, S., Zondervan, K. (2013). Epidemiology of Chronic Pelvic Pain. In: Gebhart, G.F., Schmidt, R.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pain. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28753-4_1333 Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28753-4_1333 Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg Print ISBN: 978-3-642-28752-7 Online ISBN: 978-3-642-28753-4 eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences