Myofascial Findings and Psychopathological Factors in Patients with Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome

Susanne Klotz, Gesche Ketels, Bernd Löwe, Christian Brünahl
In: Pain Medicine · 2018 · vol. 21(2) , pp. e34–e44 · doi:10.1093/pm/pny097 · PMID:29788453 · W2804553713
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 7 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This study analyzed myofascial and psychosocial factors in 187 chronic pelvic pain syndrome patients, finding women had more tender and trigger points, and higher psychopathological scores, with correlations between myofascial and psychosocial elements.

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

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) is a common pain condition with psychosocial and somatic symptoms. Myofascial findings and psychiatric comorbidities are frequent. Therefore, the aim of the study was to analyze myofascial and psychosocial aspects. Furthermore, the study focuses on correlations between these aspects and gender differences in this topic. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Interdisciplinary outpatient clinic for patients with CPPS at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. METHODS: Participants underwent a multimodal diagnostic algorithm including physiotherapeutic assessment and psychotherapeutic evaluation. Those with a positive diagnosis of CPPS were included. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize and analyze the sample. Bivariate correlations were calculated for the association between myofascial findings and psychopathological symptoms. RESULTS: A total of 187 patients (56.7% female, mean age ± SD = 49.06 ± 17.05 years) were included. Women had significantly higher numbers of tender (mean ± SD = 17.53 ± 9.58 vs 13.40 ± 8.79, P = 0.003) and trigger points (mean ± SD = 6.23 ± 6.64 vs 4.09 ± 7.15, P = 0.036). They had also significantly higher values in the PHQ-15 (mean ± SD = 11.51 ± 5.24 vs 9.28 ± 5.49, P = 0.009) and the SF-MPQ (mean ± SD = 17.84 ± 8.95 vs 15.11 ± 7.97, P = 0.041). Several significant correlations between myofascial findings and psychosocial factors exist. CONCLUSIONS: There might be a link between psychosomatic and myofascial aspects in CPPS; thus further studies are needed. Nevertheless, the results stress the urgent need of a multimodal treatment including physiotherapy and psychotherapy in these patients.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

chronic_pelvic_pain

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 (37)

Cited by (7)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK